


Neo Greece

by Lonelywandererr



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-01 09:26:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16281995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonelywandererr/pseuds/Lonelywandererr
Summary: Kyra is a rebel in Neo Mykonos, she doesnt abide by any rules. Kassandra is a cage fighter, notorios for her fights all around Neo Greece and Sparta. Both become caught up in the Cult of Kosmos, and find each other in different ways.





	1. Chapter 1

Mom and Dad always called me a rebel, not that I gave a shit about what Dad thought. Here in Neo Greece? I was able to do whatever I pleased.

I could visit Neo Delos, fly to Neo Paros, see the Olympics if I wanted to, but something kept me here in Neo Mykonos, and I wasn't sure what exactly that was. So I was stuck, in my garage fixing prosthetic limbs legally (and illegally) for my friends, wondering souls and my mother, whose brain was functioning on bio fluid, thanks to my abusive as fuck father who thought one night it would be a good idea, to come home smelling like wine and beat the heck out of her, this all happened when I was very young though, now I was 24, but it doesn't mean I've moved on, I still hate his guts. Malaka.

I lived with my mother only, they split up pretty early on in my childhood, especially after he'd become abusive, but it didn't help seeing his face plastered on every electronic sign I passed on the streets, he was famous for his state of the art cars, and I cringe every time they pass me on the streets. So I couldn't escape Podarkes the great, he was famous in all of Greece.

I sat in my garage, Ellios, my favourite punk band blasting from my surround sound, as I worked on my friends prosthetic leg, it hissed at me when I screwed inwards, and I cussed loudly, blue blood splattering along my face. I groaned and leant back, swearing in my native language, and I could hear my mother tell me off from upstairs, even over my music. I wanted to tell her off too, but she was dealing with enough, bills, the recent death of her own mother and of course, Dad.

That malaka followed me everywhere…

I sighed and stood, placing my screwdriver down, turning my music off and taking a big breath of fresh air from my open garage door. Some of the teenagers on my street were playing Z Ball, what hockey had become over the ages, except the ball would come flying at you at twenty miles per second, and you had to hit it harder than you've ever hit something before, in hopes it hit your teammate in the gut, where heavy armour would (hopefully) protect you from the blow. These kids were nothing compared to what was in the Olympics, and on TV, but it was cute to see them try. I grabbed a cigarette from my back pocket, ahh, these haven't changed at all. These were even more addictive, berry flavoured cigarettes? Best thing to happen.

I pulled one to my lips and leant against the side of my garage, looking towards the night sky. I was so bored in this bustling state, no amount of food trucks, or gambling, arcades and breaking into abandoned E Tech buildings could quench my thirst for adventure.

I guess you could say I hated it here.

I shrugged to myself, and reached to press my garage door button, but before I could, a familiar face appeared out of the shadows and under the street light. 'Kyra!'

I rolled my eyes as I turned towards my door, shaking my head and sighing loudly. 'Roxana its not finished yet, I'm trying my absolute best to fix your dads leg but its taking ages, I don't know what he did to it but man, its busted.'

'No, Kyra its-'

'I mean, did he rip it off and smoke out of it or something? He's always been a heavy smoker.'

'Kyra!'

'What?!'

I turned and faced my dark skinned friend, she crossed her arms, smirked and shook her head my way. Roxana and I had been friends for years, since high school and college, she was a good egg in my books, but appeared at the most random times to bust my balls about something I didn't really care about, im guessing tonight was one of those nights.

'You, me, Thaletas.' She started, I groaned and rolled my eyes, that name already made me want to cringe.

'Thaletas.' I simply said, 'Really?'

'I know, I know.' She began, clasping her hands together. 'I know how you feel about him.'

'Hes been obsessed with me since kindergarten, weirdly obsessed with me, the kid makes me feel uncomfortable, weird.'

'But he's also rich, incredibly rich and knows the best places around town to drink and party.'

'Drink and party, tch.' I grimaced, grabbing a beer from the mini fridge, I popped the cap off with my belt and took a swig. I know it was quite hypocritical seeing as I was drinking right now.

Roxana stepped closer and took my arm, pulling it towards the outside. 'He's a VIP at the Plastic tonight, and he invited us!'

'Why, what does he want?' I replied.

I wasn't a fan of Thaletas, another rich boy with an attitude, getting every girl around Neo Mykanos, partying, doing drugs, convicted felony kind of kid.

As much as a 'rebel' that I was, I stayed away from drugs, that shit was for another time of my life, highschool, bad years.

And the Plastic? That was the most dangerous place around, its where most cage fights happened, people from all around Greece would fight for drachmae, some would come out millionares.

It wasn't my thing.

But Roxana was pushing for it, that's for sure.

'Please come with me Kyra!' she begged, grabbing my beer from my hands, I tried snatching it back, but she took a sip and smiled, the corner of her lips perking.

She knew I couldn't say no.

I sighed and checked the time, a huge holographic clock was above my fridge, every click made me wince, it was nearly 1am.

And I was tired.

I looked towards Roxana and grimaced, and she held her hands together with glee.

'Fine.'

'YES!' she exclaimed, grabbing me and hugging tight. I groaned and pulled her away, patting her head like a child. 'Lets just go, I don't realy want to be seen around the Plastic.'

'Aw, c'mon, it'll be fun. I heard Kassandra is fighting tonight.'

'Who?'

'WHO?!' Roxana watched me in disbelief, shaking her head like some child had just come asking who the president of neo Greece was.

'Kassandra? The mighty Kassandra? From Sparta?'

I blinked, slowly, dull like. 'Who.'

'Ugh youre unbelievable!' she groaned, pulling me again. I quickly sculled my beer and turned off the garage lights, waiting for the door to close before setting off into the night with my silly best friend.

'She's amazing, 6'2, buff…'

I pocketed my hands and watched as Roxana's jacket began glowing bright pink, ew. I hated those colours, and I reminded her all the time, but she wouldn't change it.

I felt the warm glow of my own neon colours, it added personality to my leather jacket that's for sure. I listened to her go on about this fighter, who was probably another junkie drug addict too high to even realise they were fighting.

Ugh, what was I doing?

'How is your mater?' she suddenly asked, I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, glancing up to the sky; cigarette still lit in my lips. 'She's doing fine, living, even though I have to change her bio components every fucking day.'

'its not fair, your pater should be paying for all that blue blood you use, he's one of the richest men in Greece after all.'

'Yeah, and you think he will?'

'No…'

'Exactly.'

'Once the old fart dies, you'll get something right?' Roxana asked the golden question, and again, I shrugged in response to her.

'Maybe.'

It fell silent between the two of us, my mother and father was a well known subject around the city, the story of the richest man bashing his own wife for glory and drunken power. It wasn't easy to miss.

I passed a few younger boys, and they whispered behind my back, but I ignored them.

To be the daughter of the great Podarkes wasn't easy.

We reached downtown Artemis Hills, and I spotted a large crowd near a busy alleyway. A dirty, grimy alleyway that smelt like piss and shit.

Great.

'There he is!' Roxana giggled, waving down a taller boy, with a small head of hair. He was dressed up richly, typical.

Thaletas smiled and waved back, his two other friends glancing our way.

'Ah the great Kyra showers me with her presence!' Thaletas laughed, moving towards me for a hug, I put one hand up and shook my head, 'No.'

He paused and grimaced, leaning back and then giving a tight hug to my best friend, who was more than happy to hug a buff boy like himself.

'Glad you guys could come, its going to be such a good fight tonight.' He gleefully said, he almost jumped for joy. 'I have so much money on Xenia, it isn't even funny.'

'I'm sure you have so much to lose, Thaletas.' I sarcastically said. 'Daddy give you enough tonight?'

Thaletas grimaced towards me again and laughed sarcastically in return, 'Very funny, Kyra.'

I wasn't kidding.

There was a loud ring from inside, and all the greasy Greek men waiting outside howled for joy, sculling their drinks before stepping downwards towards the basement of, oh, Plastic was below a brothel, very charming.

I followed Roxana closely, Thaletas behind me, if he grabbed my ass I'd grab his dick and rip it off.

It smelt like sweat and blood downstairs, full of men and women passing beers here and there. In the middle stood a huge cage, with some of it barbed. It was high, its top plastered right into the ceiling, and there was already a fight going on. Two men were at it with iron fists, literally. Both of them had prosthetic hands, and every smack could be heard from over the crowd. Thaletas brought himself in front, patting backs and saying hello to those around him, before he brought Roxana and I to a seated spot, smack bang in the front.

I sat down, grabbed a nearby beer from a passing waiter, and took a large gulp.

'This better be worth it.' I muttered to Roxana. 'Or you owe me, having to sit next to this jerkoff.'

She chuckled and leant back in her seat. 'From here we'll get the best view of her.'

Her, her her. My best friend was wild about this woman I'd never heard of.

We watched a few more matches, the second was a big buff burly woman with robotic legs, she kicked back and forth like a kangaroo, and at one point they were pinned against the wired fence, id never felt so sick watching skin rip in front of me.

In minutes, the burly woman had won, she raised her arms and cheered, and the crowds followed.

'Now, the moment you've all been waiting for!' the announcer called, 'Get your bets ready!'

'Oh man, oh man, oh man!' Thaletas cried, pumping his fist.

'Here she comes, Kyra!' Roxana said, patting my arm and pointing towards the opening of the gate.

'Oh big whoop, I don't see what all the fuss is…'

I paused as I saw her.

At first I noticed her torso, the right side of her chest was completely bionic, a silver new gen arm glowing in the light. She was tall, very tall, like an Amazonian. She wore a sports bra, black, just like the muay thai shorts she wore below, showing off her left leg that was also bionic. Her hair was pulled back in a plait, longingly hanging over her left shoulder, muscled biceps, ripped stomach, my god, she was fantastic.

I swallowed my words and watched her step into the arena, cool, and content.

I was about to lose my breath.

And I was alright with it.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: Mater – Mother. Pater – Father. Drachmae: Money

Chapter 2.  
When did I realise I was gay?  
Hmm.  
I think it was back in high school, when every girl was staring at the football players moaning about how hot their junk looked in shorts, and there I was, sitting back staring at the girls. I never enjoyed the thought of men, no matter how hard dad tried to set me up as a child with the other little Greek boys in his business run. So when I brought a woman home, dad was furious, but after he left? Mater didn’t give a shit. There was moments where I really stopped and realised ‘holy crap, I really like women.’ And I think, no, I know one of those moments was evident now, as I stared at her glistening body.  
Now I knew why Roxana was so excited to see Kassandra of Sparta, she was unbelievably attractive, my type exactly if I may say. There was something about her, as she stood in the rink staring at her opponent with eased eyes, Xenia was bigger than her, buffer than her and more intimidating, and Thaletas had all his money on her. Sitting beside me he held his phone out, taking videos of the battle that was about to begin.  
I kept my eyes close on Kassandra, not even hiding the fact that I was staring. She stood still, but glanced into the crowd for a split moment, a moment that I realised. I tried pinpointing what she was looking at but the fight began, fast.  
Xenia threw a punch, Kassandra dodged it. With all her might and glory, the bigger fighter was just launching kicks and punches, and Kassandra dodged like a pro, with the same determined face on. People in the crowd gasped and gawked, I even found myself on the edge of my seat. Finally, Kassandra stopped her dodging and went in for the kill, she kicked higher than id ever seen someone kick before, whacking Xenia right in the neck, she stumbled, caught herself on the wired fencing and growled loudly. She yelled in protest and threw her whole body weight Kassandra’s way, but copped a punch with her robotic arm right in the abdomen. She paused, eyes wide open and gritted her teeth. It was then when she grabbed Kassandra’s slim neck, lifting her up higher and higher.  
‘YES!!’ Thaletas called, pumping a fist, nearly dropping his phone.  
No! I thought, my heart racing faster and faster, why it was doing such a thing? I wasn’t sure, it must have been the atmosphere.  
Kassandra held Xenia’s hands and throttled about, kicking her long legs. Oh god, she was going to lose? Not much of a brave warrior then was she? I turned to Roxana and grimaced, ‘She’s going to lose, and you brought me here for no reason.’  
‘Nope! Just wait.’  
I turned back as she said this, and widened my eyes in surprise. Kassandra had locked her legs around Xenia’s head, her robotic leg, powerful, choking her, and with one foul push, she threw herself from her large grip, flipping back onto the mat floor.  
There was a huge thud as Xenia fell, shaking the whole arena.  
The crowd was silent, Thaletas was silent, Roxana was silent and more importantly, I was silent.  
Kassandra was huffing, her muscles tense and bared, she placed her hands on her hips and examined her foe.  
She was magnificent.  
Finally, the crowd went wild, screaming and cheering, throwing their beer bottles towards the ring, hugging one another, pumping their fists. Im assuming the ones who were celebrating had won thousands of drachmae.  
I turned to Thaletas, who had his wide eyes on his wallet, I watched it light up, neon lights of his credit card details, the important stuff blanked out, appearing for all to see.  
‘No…’ he whimpered, as the drachmae symbol deducted and flew off upwards. Roxana and I watched the amount, and I grimaced towards him. Really? That much on a fight?  
‘Dad’s going to kill me.’ He cringed, leaning back in his seat.  
I looked back towards Kassandra, who was flexing her robotic arm, fixing it. She took a sharp breath and stepped back towards the cage door, which was just to the side of our seating. She paused and looked my way, and I froze.  
I wasn’t sure what happened, but my heart did a flip. She looked at me with half lidded eyes, almost saddened, but then she did something that would drive me crazy for nights and days on end.  
She smiled.  
I smiled back like a complete loser, I’m sure it was crooked, uncomfortable looking and stupid. But I still had to return something to that gorgeous lug of a human staring at me. She didn’t seem to care about how everyone cheered her way, congratulated her. I think she wanted to get out of there as much as I did, out of this grimy cage fighting arena which smelt like sweat. I noticed a pair of beings standing very close to the door, mobster looking fellows with strong built torsos and tall structures. They opened the door and lead Kassandra out, one hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from the crowds that tried their absolute hardest to grab her and cheer for her victory.  
My heart panged, I wanted to make more eye contact with her, I wanted her to smile at me again.  
She was so different.  
‘Well, that was short.’ Roxana sighed, leaning back into her seat. ‘But wasn’t she wonderful?’  
I nodded, ‘Yeah, she’s a fighter that’s for sure.’  
‘She sucks!’ Thaletas growled, crossing his arms. ‘She totally cheated.’  
I wanted to turn to him and smack him right there and then, she didn’t cheat one bit she was just so skiled she could take out a woman twice her size in an instant. She really was the legendary fighter from Sparta.  
But there was something odd about the whole situation, something that didn’t make much sense. Who were those two men? Her coaches? No way. They looked sinister, different and uncomfortable.  
We waited for the crowd to clear a bit before making out way outside, but I kept looking back to see if Kassandra had made her way back, but she’d vanished faster than she’d appeared. Roxana and Thaletas were talking about his big loss of drachmae, but I couldn’t clear my mind, that smile, it was stuck on me.  
We stood out in the cold night, I brought another cigarette to my lips, sucking in tightly. My jacket began to warm up, the insulated heaters inbuilt keeping me toasty, id have to charge it up when I got home, or I’d be jacketless for a while.  
‘What did you think of Kassandra, Kyra?’ Roxana smiled, nudging me in the ribs. ‘She’s pretty great huh?’  
I eased my eyes towards her but shrugged my shoulders, who knows, maybe Kassandra of Sparta wasn’t smiling at me, maybe she was smiling at a woman or man behind me, maybe I was stupid to think that the champion of the ring, who looked like she batted for the other side was checking me out. And why did it even matter? I have plenty of options here in Neo Mykonos.  
Right?  
I grimaced.  
I hadn’t dated for a while now, my ex lived down the road but we never talked, not after she cheated on me with another woman. So I had trust issues, who didn’t?  
Why was I even thinking about this?!  
I groaned and pocketed my hands, grabbing Roxana’s attention. ‘Wanna get going, Rox?’  
‘Aw already?’ she whimpered, turning to Thaletas who held her around the waist. ‘What about we head upstairs?’  
‘Are you kidding?’ I grimaced, looking up towards the brothel/strip club. ‘Maybe another time.’  
‘Well, I’m going to hang out with Thelly for a while.’  
Thelly, ew.  
‘Right.’ I muttered, looking towards him, he smirked and held her waist, but I raised my finger and stepped his way. ‘She better get home safe, you better look after her and if I find out you’ve left her behind, I’m going to kick your ass.’  
He flinched and smiled awkwardly, shaking his head. ‘I’ll make sure she’s safe.’  
Look, I didn’t mind the guy, he wasn’t as bad as I made him seem. I trusted him, just a little. Especially for the safety of a woman, he was desperate for a girlfriend, so I’m sure he’d look after Roxana.  
‘You.’ I mumbled, pressing my finger to her nose. ‘You text me as soon as you get home.’  
‘I will.’ She smiled and hugged me tightly. ‘Love ya.’  
‘Yeah, yeah yeah.’ I replied, starting my walk back home, even though it would take approximately 15 minutes to do so .  
‘I said I love you Kyra!!’ Roxana called over the noise of cars and loud billboards with animated videos. ‘Okay?’  
I lifted my hand, waving once as I walked forwards, not caring to turn around. I loved her as well, but like hell I was gonna reply sounding like a prep. 

I walked in silence, the cigarette in my lips, puffing back on it. People were still on the streets, talking or drinking, hanging out with their friends, playing games loudly. Thank the gods houses were fitted with sound proof windows, if you decided to use them, I definitely would be tonight. As I walked I thought about my past night, everything happened so fast, at one point I thought Kassandra would lose, but then with a blink she was staring over her opponent like an animal with its chew toy. But that smile, ugh, I couldn’t get that smile out of my head. It lingered on my mind for the rest of the walk, something felt odd about it all and I couldn’t shake it off, last time I felt this was when Daphni was cheating on me, I just knew something was up. Something wrong, something different.  
I reached my house, a run down little home that I was always updating with works, mater was probably asleep by now, she usually slept pretty late. I opened my door and shook my jacket off, placing it on the rack that indicated it was charging by a little red light appearing on the collar. I walked upstairs quietly, not wanting to wake my mother up, if I did she wouldn’t fall asleep for a long time. I had to wake up at nine in the morning to change her bio fluids, so now it was nearly three in the morning, and I’d hardly get any sleep.  
I reached my room and closed the door behind me, stretching before undressing for bed, I lifted my necklace from my neck, placing it on my bedside table, it was important to me, it was my mothers before she was brutally hurt by pater. It weighed her head down, so she thought someone stronger like her daughter could wear it and show it off with pride. And so I did.  
I laid back down and grabbed my tablet book, searching hastily for her name.  
‘Kassandra of Sparta…’ I mumbled, the search results were varied, with information about her next matches, where she originated from, but there wasn’t as much info as I hoped. But, there were photos.  
I searched through them and smiled lightly, she looked even powerful in photos, next to the same two people I saw tonight. I zoomed in on their faces, one was an older man, with blonde facial hair, the shirt he was wearing was a v line, so his gross body hair was popping out of it. The other looked pretty sinister for a human, he had dark circles under his eyes, and had his arm around her shoulders, tight.  
I sighed and zoomed in on her face, my heart racing just the slightest as I thought about tonight.  
Oh by the gods, the realisation set in.  
I have a crush.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
Authors note: sorry for the slow burn, but it’ll all be worth it. Thanks. 

I woke at seven the next morning, something I was just used to. I could already hear the drones outside zooming in the wind, delivering packages and food, who ordered food this early? Not only the drones, but the city was always loud, they never turned down the large screens displaying advertisements, music from the alleyways, the grand buildings looming over us like peasants. The city never slept. I rubbed my eyes and sniffled, rising up and groaning. I shouldn’t have gone out last night, I could have gotten myself a good amount of sleep. But I had a job to do, like every morning.   
After I dressed, I stepped downstairs quietly, the soles of my feet pressing into cold wood. Firstly I turned the heater on, and in two seconds it blasted through the house, heating it in minutes. The kitchen was freakishly quiet when I stepped in, I guess that’s what happens when society evolves and creates muted appliances. I turned the coffee machine on, it was ready to brew already. Man, us humans were getting lazier by the minute, but it was pretty amazing to see something so modern become so futuristic. I mean, I was born into a world of all this, but I do remember my household appliances making some noise when I was a kid. Our house was a little run down, when pater left, we had trouble maintaining jobs, hence why I was doing illegal activities without my mater knowing. Mater, just when she came to mind, I realised it was time to change her bio fluid. I breathed in tightly and opened the drawer in the living room, grabbing the mechanical probe that fit into her damaged head. The bio fluid was running low when I opened the fridge, id have to figure out a way to get more before the week ended, it was only Tuesday…  
I sighed and grabbed a fuller pouch, stepping quietly to her room. This was the moment I hated the most, I felt horrible waking her up because I knew she took a while falling asleep during the night, due to the pain of her migraines. I knocked on her doorframe gently, and she stirred in her bed.   
‘Morning, mater…’ I sweetly said, she mumbled something in return and glanced my way, over her shoulder I could already see the bio fluid in her head wobble. She was bald due to it, but she usually wore a wig whenever she went out to get groceries, when she could that was, I usually did the work for her. ‘Time to fill up…’   
‘Great…’ she grumbled, tired. ‘But alright…’   
I smiled weakly and stepped towards her quietly, her room was warm and toasty, id be annoyed if I had to be woken up as well. I sat beside her and leant in, giving her a kiss on the forehead, she smiled back. Slowly I helped her lean back against the bed frame, and started setting her up. She looked at me as I worked and grimaced, touching the bags under my eyes. ‘Out late last night?’   
I shrugged and sighed, lifting the bag up high. ‘Yeah, Roxana wanted to go to the arcade as per usual,’   
Like hell I was going to tell her I went to watch the cage fighting, under the Plastic. She’d lose her shit at me, those places aren’t really safe. ‘She does love her arcades.’   
‘How long were you out till?’ she asked me, I shrugged once again. ‘Bout two…’   
We were talking softly, like there was someone else sleeping next to my mater. There was a soft pang in my heart, maybe we both missed…. No. I caught myself and shook my head a bit, no way, I didn’t miss him at all. Not after he did this to her.   
‘Does it feel okay?’ I asked, concerned. She had her eyes closed, and slowly nodded. ‘Yes…’   
Im sure it did, the bio fluid helped whatever part of her brain she had left work, calm her down, leave her sleepy. Which meant she’d be in bed all day, again. I didn’t mind it though, we usually had our talks during the night, and we were both night owls, that’s for sure.   
‘Are you going to go back to sleep?’ she asked me, brushing a hand through my hair, it comforted me. I closed my eyes a little and smiled, a mothers touch was everything to me. She was honestly my world, and like hell I was going to let her go like he did.   
‘No, I have heaps of work to do.’ I replied, grimacing. ‘I have to fix Roxana’s dads leg, get paid by him and then buy some more parts later today.’   
‘Busy lamb,’ she chuckled, ‘Make sure you’re safe.’   
‘Always.’ I returned, watching the last drip of bio fluid settle. ‘Always am.’   
I gave her another kiss on the forehead and left her be, she was already half asleep when I finished up the bio transmission. I closed her door gently, sighing again. It wasn’t easy seeing her the way she was, and by the gods it made me hate my father even more.   
Why did he have to do such a thing? He blames the alcohol, but I blame him.   
I stepped back into the kitchen and grabbed my cup of coffee, I felt like sculling it to get that sweet java down my throat, I needed to wake up, but I could always grab a red bull and scull that, but my heart would explode. I stuck to coffee and sipped at it, walking slowly down to the garage. My days work started now, I’d finish off Roxana’s pater’s leg and then go see Barnabas at the tech store, grab some parts and work on the illegal stuff I hid in a chest, some street gang wanted five arms attached with flammable fingertips, probably to beat the heck out of someone, they’d probably get along well with my pater. I didn’t ask questions, I just made them what they wanted, and got my drachmae.   
I turned the light on in the garage, and it flickered, neon lights appearing along the wall, my fridge that was an older model hummed, ahh noise, I loved it. I sat back down on my comfortable seat, turned on my machinery and glanced at my beers, was it too early to have a drink? Probably. Maybe later, I didn’t want to get drunk during the day.   
For hours I worked on this leg, trying to get it to function properly, something was wrong with the wiring so I had to grab one of my spares and take the wiring from that, put it in, tinker with it and make it work. I hope Roxana’s pater didn’t mind that. Usually with my working endeavours I would flip out and throw something, break something, curse and break it, but for some reason the leg began working on the fourth try. I leant back in my seat, arms wide, glorifying my work.   
‘Huh!’ I laughed, ‘Nice!’   
This was something that hardly happened. Something working that fast? Crazy!   
I grabbed my phone from my pocket and placed it down on the table, the holograph effect coming to terms, bringing up everything in my phone for me to see. I touched my contacts, Roxana and waited for her to answer, even if it was nine in the morning. After the third ring she answered, a crackle, pop and finally a moan caught my attention.   
‘Yes….?’ She groaned, ‘Kyra what do you want so early?’   
‘Ah hello!’ I chuckled, smirking. ‘Now you know what its like to be annoyed, dear Roxana!’   
‘Ugh.’   
‘No, but in all seriousness…’ I mumbled, ‘Your paters leg is fixed. You can come pick it up at like, midday.’   
She cheered weakly, before hanging up abruptly. I watched the call end and sighed for the thousandth time. At least she was safe, and Thaletas got her home.   
I could go back to sleep, but I knew my deadline was coming up, and the clan wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t have their flame fixed arms. It was an easy job, for three thousand drachmae. But I needed the parts, so I had to go see Barny.   
I grabbed my wallet and my second jacket from my coat rack, thankfully it was charged when I put it on, a leather like jacket with red neon inputs. The garage door made its creaky loud opening, humming as it ascended. Slowly I walked out into the street, watching all the old Greek ladies walk to church, do their groceries, kids going to school. Man I missed school sometimes, it was awesome sitting in class and battling my friends online without the teachers knowing, playing all the popular games at the time. Now virtual reality was so realistic, got that Ready Player One type aesthetic. But people got addicted to it, and lost reality.   
It was fun, none the less though.   
Barnabas’s shop was in the city, so I needed to take my bike. Ah my bike, a beautiful specimen, a Harley Davidson GX 40. I touched the band on my wrist and started my baby up, it revved in response and I swear I got turned on a bit. I loved it so much.   
I grabbed my bag and straddled the seat, revving the engine. This model had self drive, but what was the point of that? I loved zooming down the street, gaining attention from onlookers, why buy a bike and not show it off?  
I reached the city, it was humongous, so much going on, people everywhere. It definitely wasn’t my thing at all. I parked my bike next to Barnabas’s shop, which looked run down in the city centre, but he sold some great stuff, cigarettes and mechanical parts? Perfect. I gained some looks, but I didn’t care, at all.   
I opened the door to his shop, and the ringer of the siren above caught me off guard, that was new, he didn’t have that before. When he saw me, he grinned and widened his arms, cheering me on.   
‘Ah! Kyra!’ he laughed, his grey long hair bouncing as he spoke, ‘Welcome!’   
‘Barnabas, how are you?’ I chuckled, starting my search for parts, I needed flammable liquid, and spark incinerators. ‘Doing well?’   
He smiled and took a slug from his beer, drinking on the job as per usual. ‘I am doing wonderful! Sold a lot this past week, new clients, very good!’   
I nodded and grabbed four of each of what I needed, and turned to him. He was an older man, in his sixties for sure, but what was most notable about his attire was his left eye, it was robotic and moved in response with his other working eye, but what freaked me out a little was its pale silver colour, he could have chosen a nicer colour than that. I guess when his other eye finally died and decayed from its brown to murky grey, he wanted to keep it the same.   
I placed all my parts on his counter, and he examined them with a curious look. ‘Hmm… these parts hey?’   
‘Don’t judge me, I’m working on a personal project.’ I replied, probably sounding more guilty than ever. ‘It’s going to be great.’   
He leant in and smiled, his hand up towards his mouth, blocking it from the other two customers he had wondering around the store. ‘Personal project hey? You wouldn’t be doing more work for shady figures are you?’   
I grimaced and grabbed my credit card from my wallet, flicking upwards and giving him the amount straight to his pay machine, he watched the numbers flow and chuckled again, flicking back.   
‘On the house today!’ he cheered, patting me on the shoulder tightly, I jumped from his contact, he was a strong man for his age. ‘I owe you from the school break, you did a lot of work for my neon signs. I hate those things, can never understand how they work.’  
I smiled back, and patted his hand on my shoulder. ‘Thank you!’   
We stood and spoke for another ten minutes, he asked about mater of course, I knew Barnabas for a while now, he’d lived in the city all his life so he knew all the best connections, even some of the wrong ones, so I guess that’s how he knew I was working for some shady people, he could read it, literally; his eye had motion censors and emotion detectors, he could literally tell I was lying to his face. I thanked him again and left his shop, but I stopped in my tracks to see a familiar face standing near my bike, with three other brutes that made my blood boil.   
Cicero.   
He was the guy who was commissioning me, wanting his arms with flamed fingertips. I wasn’t behind was I?  
‘Cicero..’ I warned, stepping towards my bike. ‘Why are you here?’   
He grinned dirtily and patted my bike, his sneer turning into an annoyed grimace. ‘Who are you working with to get this bike?’ he asked, his brown eyes beady and dark. He was a tall fella as well, loomed over me like tower. I shrugged my shoulders, ‘The bike was my dads, he left it behind.’   
‘Oh the great Podarkes!’ he laughed, his goons laughed along with him. I wasn’t laughing. ‘Bullshit, who’s paying you? Who are you working with?’   
He cracked his knuckles and I swallowed deeply, hands up in protest. ‘You really want to do this here in the street? There’s people everywhere!’   
‘I don’t give a fuck!’ he growled, pushing me back a little from my prized possession. ‘Tell me!’   
Before I did, I grabbed my wrist and acted as if I was just fiddling with my jacket, when in reality I was turning off my body modulator, hiding my emotions so they couldn’t be readable.   
‘I’m not working for anyone else!’ I lied, pushing him back. He didn’t budge though, too strong. ‘I’m not!’   
‘You better not be, because I told you, you work with us you don’t work with anyone else or we’ll gut you!’ Cicero growled, cracking his knuckles.   
Oh fuck, I was going to get into some serious trouble if he knew I was also helping their rivals the Maximus. Cicero was part of the Titan’s, who knew who was stronger, all I knew was they were both fucking brutal, and murders all around Mykonos were because of them. I didn’t want to become just another one of their victims for not abiding by their rules, but I didn’t do that, abide by rules, remember?   
‘Now if you’ll excuse me I have to work on your arms.’ I pushed by him and his gang, and they let me. ‘Thank you.’   
‘I swear Kyra, if you’re lying, I’m going to kick your ass.’ He replied, his tone fell serious. ‘And your mother will pay.’   
I felt the hairs on my neck prickle, and I turned to him, my face full of rage, eyes wide. ‘If you ever, talk about my mother again, I will shove your arms up your ass and have you spitting out metal.’   
‘Is that a threat?’ he growled again, we were pretty close now, and man I didn’t know how to fight, but he was getting personal now. ‘Because you know I wont take threats lightly.’   
I could have punched him, slapped him, spat on him. But I chose not to.   
I straddled the seat of my bike again, and revved its engine once more. He stepped back with his goons and watched me, and I flipped him off before riding down the street.   
Man, if word went out I was working for both sides, I was going to be in a lot of trouble, a lot.   
-

I took the back way instead of the city route, it was faster and I didn’t have to stop at as many red lights. But boy were there some odd balls around this area, probably all drunk or on opium. I was being stared at, especially with my bike. I didn’t want to stop around here, a lot of theft happened, and if I lost my baby I’d be distraught. I was about ten minutes home when something caught my eye in an alley way, a brawl was happening between three men and a woman. But it looked like the woman was losing. Oh by the gods, I hope I wasn’t seeing a murder happen right in front of my eye. I parked and didn’t gain any of their attention, but because of the echo I could hear everything that was being said.   
‘You are only allowed to sleep in the quarters when you’re due for a fight! Not whenever you please!’   
A punch to the head.   
‘If we see you there again, we’ll make sure you’re pumped up on the worst bio fluid we can find, laced with you know what!’   
A kick to the stomach, but she didn’t fight back.   
‘You hear us, Kassandra?’   
Oh shit, that name.   
I got off my bike and rushed towards the alley, but when they brought weapons out, I ducked behind the bins, eyes wide.   
‘I understand.’ I heard her thick accent, ‘I apologise.’   
‘Yeah you better, cos if the boss finds out through us, we’re all fucked!’ one of the men yelled. ‘Do this again and we’ll fuck you up even worse, and you wouldn’t want that before your fight this Friday would you?’   
‘No.’ she simply responded, she sounded like she was in pain, through gritted teeth she said it again. ‘No.’   
I heard them speak more to her, but it was muffled. Something about a payment, a oath. They sounded serious. When I started to hear their own bikes grumble, I hid back even more, as they revved by and left the alleyway silent, dark, and smelling like piss. I waited a minute before rising up, hearing her stumble amongst the bottles on the floor, her cuss. ‘Malakas…’   
I had to help, right?’


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Just a few moments ago I was driving home, although I’d bumped into Cicero and his gang, demanding I tell the truth about my lies, the day wasn’t too bad. But now everything was changing, as I stood only feet away from the girl I was crushing on, since she smiled at me last night at the cage fight. I swallowed and stepped her way, as she leant on the ground groaning, holding her stomach. I thought she was going to throw up for a split second, but she looked my way, I froze just like I did last night, and she eased her eyes.  
‘Are you… okay?’ I asked, one step closer. ‘What happened?’  
She didn’t reply, only looked back down and held her head, for a moment there I thought she shook it, in denial. But she only rose up instead. She stood, looked at me again and then stumbled.  
‘Oh shit!’ I cried, leaning forward and catching her tall structure. ‘You’re not okay!’  
She groaned in my arms and kicked her leg back against the concrete. Quickly I acted, sitting her back down against a pile of trash, charming; I know. I grabbed my phone which was built in with absolutely everything these days, and scanned her body. I could see the areas that were damaged, her robotic arm was broken; leg dented, but more importantly she was concussed. I swore and leant down to touch her head, her nose began to bleed.  
‘Oh Gods,’ I groaned, leaning back up and holding the sides of my head. ‘What do I do?’  
‘Take me home…’ Kassandra mumbled, in and out of consciousness. ‘Home.’  
I didn’t know where she lived! And from what I was hearing, she was staying somewhere they didn’t want her to be. I gritted my teeth and glanced at my bike, back at the 6’ bleeding hunk in front of me, and then back again. Oh gods, what was I going to do?’ I leant down again and breathed in before I spoke.  
‘Where do you live?’ I asked, ‘Is it close?’  
Wait.  
I paused and smacked my head. Sparta.  
She lived in Sparta.  
‘Oh, malaka!’ I grumbled, ‘I cant take you there.’  
Kassandra whimpered and fell back into the trash, groaning in response to my words. ‘Why not…’  
I cussed and gave up, saying ‘fuck it.’ Under my breath, before grabbing her actual arm and slinging it around my neck, her body weight was astonishing, she was so toned that it made my cheeks red as she leant into me.  
‘I’m going to take you back to mine and fix you up, okay?’ I said, panicked. I didn’t know what else to do, this was the right thing to do though, right? ‘I’ll fix your arm for you, and that leg of yours. You just have to… keep… up!’  
I lifted her with my last words, and she groaned back, her feet stumbling along the concrete.  
Thankfully there was nobody on the street when we reached my bike, now how was I going to get her onto this? I sat her down on the passenger end, and she was about to slump forward when I caught her and lifted her head to face me. She was so goddamn beautiful though, even with a bloody nose and a bruised eye. I swallowed and held her face, leaning back in embarrassment. ‘Um!’ I whimpered, awkwardly sitting in front of her. ‘Just hold on, okay?’  
‘Your…name…’ she muttered, pressing her hand against my shoulder, trying to push me away. ‘What’s your name…?’  
‘Kyra.’ I smiled shortly, patting her on the back. ‘I’m here to help, okay?’  
‘Mmkay.’ She swallowed, she was still in and out of it, but hopefully she’d keep still on the now slow ride home. I revved the engine and perked up when I felt her arms wrap around my stomach, tight. She must have had some idea that we were about to move, because she was literally squeezing the air out of me. I kicked off and rode very slowly, as much as I wanted to get out of this shitty area where I found a cage fighter being the one beaten up.  
-  
As soon as I parked the car in my garage, Kassandra fell. I heard the thump as soon as I turned the engine off, and gasped loudly. That wouldn’t be good for her head, at all.  
‘Gods!’ I yelped, jumping off to help her up. She was groaning now, but what was worse was she’d landed on her arm, snapping it in two.  
‘Man those men really did a number on you didn’t they?’ I tried to joke, in this very serious situation. ‘You’re all busted up.’  
I pulled her up again, and placed her along my table that thankfully was long enough for a human her size. I whisked my jacket off and placed it under her head, a little bit of comfort for her.  
‘How are you feeling?’ I asked, cleaning the blood from her face with a wet rag from the sink. She sniffled in reply, her eyes closed. ‘Okay, never mind.’  
I started with the smaller things first, her nose wasn’t broken thankfully, and after I leant her head back a bit the bleeding stopped. I mean, I wasn’t too bad at looking after people, I looked after mater this long, I could look after a random cage fighter in my garage, right?  
I saw she was drifting off, but I had to ask a question before she did so, and I’m sure she’d be freaked out, I mean I would be too.  
‘I have to take your um…’ I paused and closed my eyes, sighing before speaking. ‘Shirt off, Kassandra, right?’  
She nodded and reached for the hem of her shirt, but I was panicking a little. ‘I mean! If that’s okay, I don’t want you to think I’m being weird or something, because that’s totally not me, I just wanted to make sure it was okay before doing anything.’  
She seemed to be ignoring me as she leant up and took her shirt off, leaving her in her sports bra. I blushed at the sight of her six pack, and brought myself back to reality. Whoo mama, that was some sight. She fell back down and started drifting off, the concussion taking control. I swallowed and sat down in my seat, grabbing her arm and beginning my work. She’d had it broken in two places, but boy this arm was next generation, it was a model I only saw in shop windows, being over forty thousand drachmae each. I wonder how she got the money for such a thing. And her leg was the same model, I realised, thankfully she was wearing track pants and I could see the damage from where she lay. I stood after I’d finished up the wiring in her elbow, I had to touch her upper torso now, and I was so embarrassed to do so.  
As I peered down with my screwdriver, I was instantly brought to a frozen state as Kassandra moved forward and held my face with her hands. I was inches from her lips, and she watched me with eased, tired eyes. I swallowed and waited for something, a kiss maybe? But she only leant back, hands on my face still, and whispered a sentence and a name under her breath. ‘I’m sorry, Daphnae…’  
And then, she passed out, hands falling back to her chest.  
I took a deep breath in, and out, leaning back in my seat.  
Daphnae? Did she misunderstand me for someone, a past lover maybe? Whatever it was, it kinda made me a little jealous, which was a huge surprise, even for someone like me. I flipped my screwdriver in my hand and touched the necklace around my neck, tucking my hair behind my ears. Maybe she was taken.  
I grimaced and loomed over her again, fixing up the part of her arm that connected to her torso, and as I worked, I thought about that little moment just minutes ago, where I felt her warn out hands on my face, her gaze deep into mine. My heart skipped many beats as I fiddled with her leg, she was sleeping like a log, and I finally caught up to the moment then and there. Gods, right after I saw her last night, here she was in my domain, passed out and broken like a doll. And I was fixing her. Who knows, the Gods make things happen for a reason, maybe it was meant to be.  
I examined her face again, how her hair was slightly out of its braid, messy, cute.  
I caught myself and smacked my head, I was being a creeper.  
I groaned and fixed the dent with one quick tug of her leg, she flinched but kept asleep, turning her head to the side, gods that jawline was sublime. Ok, being a creep again Kyra.  
As I stood up to grab myself a beer, there was a cheer from down the street, which I recognised straight away, she called my name, Roxana!  
I cussed and panicked, she would be absolutely freaked if she saw Kassandra of Sparta lying on my table, slightly dismembered. She would scream, and wake up sleeping beauty here. I rushed around my garage, trying to find something, a cloth, a blanket, anything! Finally, on the corner of my eye I saw a dusty old curtain that mater used for her room, years ago. It would have to do.  
I grabbed it quickly and threw it over Kassandra’s tall body, which made her look like a lump of mechanics. It was better than a human body. Thank her robotic parts for that, and her head being lopped sideways.  
Roxana jumped in and widened her arms towards me, smiling and cheering. ‘Kyra!’  
‘R-Roxana!’ I laughed nervously, grabbing my beer and sculling it gently. ‘What are you doing here?’  
She looked confused, and raised an eyebrow, pointing at me. ‘You know why I’m here, you said paters leg was finished.’  
Oh shit, I did say that.  
I widened my eyes and nodded, ‘Right!’  
I stumbled to my other table, pushing my tools out of the way to grab her fathers leg, it smelt like smoke still, but it would work like new, well, sort of. ‘Here it is, now bye bye!’  
I shoved the leg into her hands, and she gasped and nearly dropped it, cussing. ‘Kyra what the hell!?’  
‘Sorry sorry!’ I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck. ‘I just have a lot of work to do, and I don’t have much time to do it.’  
‘You liar, I know when you lie!’ Roxana grumbled, thank the gods she could and not Cicero. ‘Come get a drink with me, you cant live on beer you know.’  
‘Roxana.’ I whined. But she was already grabbing my arm and pulling me out, ‘C’mon!’  
‘I know you cant say no to a hot beltan! My shout!’ she giggled, ‘My shout indeed.’  
I watched Kassandra’s body stir a little, but stiffen again, she’d be knocked out for a while, right? So a drink wouldn’t matter, by the time I got back she’d be awake, or even still asleep.  
I grabbed my leather jacket and kept side eyeing her position, Roxana stood on her phone outside, chewing her gum and blowing bubbles. Oh Gods, what was I going to do if she woke up while I was gone, she’d be stuck in here, only I had the key. Well, it meant she wouldn’t get herself into anymore trouble, and I had beers and nuts in the cupboard, she had food.  
Why was I acting like she was some sort of pet?!  
‘C’mon Kyra! I want fries!’  
‘You always want fries.’ I groaned as she pulled me again, before I closed the garage door, Roxana pointed at Kassandra’s body and blinked, confused. ‘What’s all that?’  
I stood in front of her as the door behind me fell, shaking my head and laughing awkwardly again. ‘Nothing! Just another commission, haha.’  
‘Looks sorta like…’  
‘A pile of junk! Yep, yep!’ I chuckled, sighing once the door shut.  
‘You left the lights on..’ Roxana mumbled. ‘Shouldn’t you turn those off.’  
I pulled her towards the sidewalk now, shaking my head and pocketing my hands. ‘Nope!’  
‘You’re acting weird.’ She told me, prodding me. ‘Really weird.’  
‘I’m just tired, had to get up really early this morning, and thanks to someone, I was up all night watching cage fighting.’  
A cage fight in which the winner was literally laying on my work table a few steps away.  
I shivered and glanced back as we walked and talked, knowing this afternoon was going to be very long. We walked towards the city entrance, Roxana was pointing at the new billboards being built all around, but all I could focus on was Kassandra, and what she was doing being beaten up by thugs. Maybe she was in trouble too. Maybe we both had something in common.  
She didn’t leave my mind all day.

-

 

Roxana tried to get me to stay out later than usual, but I told her mater needed me home, even though I was 24 and I could do whatever I pleased, she still believed me, mater did need me for dinner too. I rushed home, every step was two times faster than before, my heart pumped more and more, I was going to face a cage fighter in just a few moments. I saw my house appear in the distance and quickened my pace, opening my garage door with my wrist, it hummed as it ascended, but before it could fully open, I skimmed underneath the crack and closed it, being shrouded in darkness for a split second before the lights flickered on.   
She sat upon the table, awake thankfully, but she seemed distant, lost. I stepped a little closer and she turned her head to face me, breathing in tightly before standing. She grabbed her shirt and popped it back on, and I swallowed my words, not sure what to say. But I had to say something, anything.   
‘Are you feeling better?’ I asked. ‘You got hit pretty hard.’   
‘I’ve been through worse.’ She chuckled lightly. ‘I do feel better after that long sleep.’   
Was this really happening, I was talking to the amazing spartan cage fighter, in my cold and daunting garage. I rubbed my neck awkwardly and sighed a little. ‘I’m sorry I left you in the dark, my friend, Roxana she wouldn’t budge and I had to go out with her.’   
‘No worries.’   
I pursed my lips, clasped my hands together and took a few steps forward, closer to her. ‘I’m Kyra, by the way.’   
‘I remember, I saw you at the fight.’ She said, rising up to turn my way. ‘It was nice seeing such a pretty face in the crowd.’   
I blushed, held my face and laughed awkwardly, she was such a charmer. ‘Yeah, I wasn’t planning on being there, but like I said, Roxana is pretty persistent.’   
‘A good friend.’ She replied, touching her arm, ‘Did you do this?’   
I nodded, hands behind my back. ‘Yes.’   
Kassandra looked impressed, she flexed, brought it forward and leant it backwards, it moved like new, but I didn’t have time to glorify my own work, I was worried. Worried she was going to get offended that I touched her private property.   
‘I’m sorry, it’s just you were being attacked by those men, and they broke your arm and dented your leg, I didn’t know what to do.’ I paused and bit my bottom lip, examining her examining me. ‘I panicked.’   
‘No, you did good…’ she replied, stepping my way. ‘Thank you, Kyra.’   
I nodded and whisked my hand out, wanting to shake. And she took it, shaking firmly, boy was she strong.   
‘I’m Kassandra.’ She told me something I already knew. ‘Kassandra of Sparta.’   
‘Oh, I know.’ I laughed, caught myself and blushed again. ‘Sorry, but your name is all over the internet. Plus I was at the fight, everyone was talking about you.’   
‘Something I don’t really enjoy.’ She returned, grimacing. ‘I wish I could just go home.’   
She was being open with me, in such a short amount of time. I didn’t know how to take this, at all. I sympathetically nodded, ‘You told me.’   
‘I did?’ she blinked, her tall structure looming over me. ‘Oh Gods, what did I say while I was concussed?’   
‘Not much…’ I lied, remembering her speaking a name of another woman. ‘Just blabber from the dizziness.’   
It fell silent between the two of us, and I pursed my lips her way, she was looking around my garage and I realised, she was a guest, I had to host!   
‘Oh!’ I blurted, rushing towards my fridge, dodging my bike my an inch. ‘I’m sorry, you must be thirsty, do you want a beer?’   
‘Uh, sure.’ She replied. ‘Thank you.’   
I hummed back, grabbing two beers and opening them with my belt buckle, I handed her the drink and she took it with a small thanks. So now we both drank awkwardly, and all I could remember was her touching my face gingerly earlier in the day. I swallowed, smiled at her gently and leant against my bike, to which she pointed at and eased her eyes.   
‘Don’t tell me you drove me here on that? While I was concussed?’   
I panicked again, jumping off and examining it with her.  
‘Um, yes!’ I said, worried. ‘I’m sorry! Is that a bad thing?’   
‘No, just very impressive.’ She responded, smiling at me. ‘You’re impressive.’   
I wanted to grab her by the waist and ask her why exactly I was impressive, and if there was any other way I could show her, but I had to get my mind out of the gutter, this crush was becoming furious. I blushed, looked down and blurted another question, something I probably should have kept to myself.   
‘Why were you being attacked, Kassandra?’ I asked, seriously.   
She paused, her drink inches from her lips. Slowly she reached up and touched her bruised eyelid, hissing a little from the pain. I watched her examine her body and grouch, maybe she was upset with the way she looked, or something.   
‘I uh.’ She leant back against the table and crossed her arms, her drink beside her. ‘That’s a long story.’   
‘I’m listening.’ I replied, crossing my own arms.   
I hoped I didn’t sound too demanding.   
Kassandra sighed and flexed unintentionally, I think she was used to doing that. I wasn’t complaining at all.   
‘I’m a bit caught up in some trouble, you could call it.’ She chuckled, raising her eyebrows as she spoke. ‘As you know, I’m a cage fighter, it comes with it.’   
I wanted to splurge and tell her about my own trouble, something told me I could trust this buff warrior. But I listened on, watching her touch her arm.   
‘I’m a bit stuck, but I can deal with it.’   
‘Stuck how?’   
‘Stuck, like I don’t really have a place to stay.’ She replied, awkwardly shrugging her shoulders. ‘I usually stay in a hotel that my boss runs, but I’m only allowed to stay in it before a fight, so I’m all ready to beat my opponent.’   
‘Malakas, that’s not fair!’ I blasted, lifting my hand as I spoke. ‘You leave your home and have nowhere to stay?’   
‘Yeah, something like that.’   
Was there more to her story? Something she wasn’t telling me? I mean I didn’t have the right to ask, I hardly knew the woman, but as soon as she told me she was technically homeless, I had the urge to help her.   
‘So, they caught you?’   
‘Yes, they caught me, the goons who co run the business, they don’t like me lingering me there.’ She sighed, ‘This isn’t the first time they’ve attacked me for it.’   
‘I’m so sorry.’ I sympathetically said, usually with my friends I would have hugged them, held their arm, showed them my compassion, but I was so nervous to do any of that with Kassandra. Too nervous.   
‘Ah, it doesn’t bother me,’ she smiled. ‘I couldn’t fight back because my boss would have absolutely killed me if I damaged his property.’   
‘That isn’t fair, at all.’ I grumbled. ‘You should be able to stay there, for as long as you want.’   
‘I would love to, the place is pretty high maintenance.’   
‘Where is it?’   
‘The Adonis.’   
Oh the Adonis, Aphrodite’s lover, biggest hotel in Neo Mykonos, owned by none other than Caesar, no, not Julius, but one of the richest men aside my father. I’m pretty sure his boss was my pater too. But I wasn’t going to ask, I didn’t want Kassandra knowing about my background. Not just yet.   
‘Wow, the Adonis.’ I nodded, grimacing again. ‘No wonder, your boss is a big name.’   
‘Yeah, he is.’   
She didn’t sound happy about that, not at all.   
I didn’t pry any further.   
‘So, where are you going to go?’ I asked, a bit of a personal question, but I was curious. ‘You must have money from the fights, right?’   
‘Hardly.’ She admitted, shaking her head. ‘He takes all the profit.’  
This wasn’t fair at all, what in the Gods, these malakas were using her! But couldn’t she just leave? Stop fighting? I was about to ask her when she stood up, grabbed her beer and sculled it down. It was a sight to see.   
‘Thank you Kyra.’ She smiled after her gasp of refreshed air. ‘I must get going though.’   
‘Oh!’ I jumped, stepping out of her way and opening the garage door, it was slow but I was kinda happy about that, I was enjoying her presence, as lame as that sounded. ‘Y-youre welcome.’   
‘It was wonderful to meet you, and thankyou for everything, the arm, my leg, my nose.’ Kassandra smiled and stood before me, I threw my hand out for a shake, but she took my hand, brought it to her lips and kissed it gently. I went red in the face, but I couldn’t stop smiling like an absolute goof. She looked up from leaning down and winked, oh gods.   
‘I hope our paths cross again, maybe come see me fight Friday night?’ she asked, stepping towards the opening of my garage. ‘It would be nice to see a familiar face in the crowd again.’   
‘Yeah.’ I simply said, still processing her kiss before, it lingered on my hand and I held it, rubbing gently. ‘I’ll be there.’   
She smiled and lifted her hand, waving once before walking out into my busy street.   
I was left alone in my garage, that felt emptier than usual. I’d finally had a conversation with the mighty Kassandra, and learnt that she was dealing with a lot more than meets the eye. She hardly had any money, no place to stay, and was fighting for a man who was powerful, maybe as powerful as my pater.   
I watched her back as she walked out of view, merging into the busy crowds. And felt my heart beat faster than usual, I was still rubbing my hand, and the blush on my cheeks were probably still evident. I hoped she had somewhere to stay until Friday night, I’m sure she had friends, especially that woman she mentioned, Daphnae, a girlfriend maybe.   
I simply caught her at a bad time, but from that bad time bloomed something new.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors note: Trigger warning for a bit of kidnapping, but nothing serious. 

As Wednesday hit, so did my exhaustion.   
I sat in my workshop garage, tinkering with the fingertips of prosthetic arms, getting tired of wiring the same old connections together. From outside some kids were blasting tunes, which weren’t too bad might I say, so I was fine with having the garage door opened just a little bit. It was pouring out there though, and the forecast was the same for next month and a half. The storms in Neo Mykonos were brutal, shaking doors and windows and more importantly, people. I shivered, my fingers did too, making it goddamn hard for me to concentrate on my work. I was nearly finished with these arms though, I mean damn, some people even got their own arms amputated to have a prosthetic one these days, talk about dedication. But I understood, a lot of elderly needed working hands, which means those oldies worked more hours than the millennials of Greece, but there was enough drachmae for everyone, well, almost everyone.   
Thursday was an odd day, I woke up with more anxiety then usual that morning. I fixed maters bio fluid and realised that I was really running short, I had to make those arm deliveries by today, and get my drachmae, that or she’d be in a lot of trouble. As I finished them off downstairs, I leant back in my seat and took a deep breath, knowing very well I’d have to text the ugly mugs, get them to meet me somewhere not too close, not too far, I didn’t want them knowing where I lived, at all. As I went to grab a beer from my fridge, I noticed something stuck underneath my statue of Athena, it was paters but I kept it, maybe I could bludgeon him with it one day. I took the cyber note, and it flickered in my hands.   
Kassandra’s phone number and head check appeared, a gorgeous picture of her looking all serious and edgy, gosh she was handsome. She’d left this behind for me, I had the Spartan warriors number! I smiled and grabbed my phone, placing it above, it beeped once; telling me that the information had connected. I stepped back and smiled, giggling a little to myself. She left her number! That must mean something, right? Maybe she was interested too, maybe she saw some potential in me, a crush like I had on her. Ugh, listen to me, crushing on a woman I’ve met once and seen twice. But gods, it was so hard not too. She was so fucking good looking, and sweet, at least from what I took when we finally had a proper meeting. That kiss on the hand? Unbelievable.   
This was very unlike me, I was supposed to be the rebel Kyra, someone who didn’t give a shit about Aphrodite’s embrace, things called feelings. I worked, made drachmae and lived.   
I guess it was about to change.   
I didn’t have the balls to text her straight away, so I kept her number safe in my phone. I had to text Cicero first, which was still unreal to me, texting a gang member so casually.   
‘Your arms are done, meet at the usual place?’   
The usual place was a souvlaki bar three blocks from the city square.   
‘Yes, see you in 20.’   
I packed my bag, shoving all the arms safely in it, I probably looked like a freak with such a clunky duffel bag, looked like a body especially when the fingers pricked from outside the hem. I told mater I was going to the shops, she didn’t need to know I was bargaining with the Titan’s. she looked well today, that was good to see. Finally I grabbed my bike and placed the bag safely behind me, straddling it, and riding off towards the city square.   
-  
Cicero and his gang weren’t there in twenty minutes, not surprising though, I probably had to wait another twenty before they actually got here. And I’d see them from a mile away, with their big cars and motorbikes. So I waited, grabbing a cigarette from my back pocket and lighting it. Man, I could go for a drink right now. The city was lively today, even with the bad weather, I examined people with their weather controlled umbrellas hovering above their heads, no need to hold onto them these days, it did it for you. Many were on their smartphones, eating as they walked, heavy with shopping bags. I missed going shopping with my friends, the only friend who stuck around was Roxana, and she was a shopaholic. Maybe one day, I could relive those moments. I looked up towards a billboard, loud speaking caught my guard and I wish it didn’t, there he was, my father. He spoke about his new model car, the specs and everything, I grouched and wished they’d muted it, that same add had been playing for the past two weeks. Before I could throw something at it, I was taken back by darkness. A struggle was next as I realised someone had covered my head with a bag of sorts, and I was grabbed unwanted, thrown into the back of a car. I panicked and kicked but it did nothing. Oh my gods, was this really happening?   
‘Let go of me!’ I screamed, kicking the car door, I heard laughing, cheering and then a familiar voice made me flinch.   
‘Calm down, Kyra.’ Cicero chuckled, patting my head, I went to bite it, wherever it was. ‘Just taking care of ya.’   
‘Get me out of here you malaka!’ I cussed, I tried ripping the bag off my head, but they had ziptied it. ‘Or I swear to the gods-‘   
‘What?’ he laughed, revving the engine. ‘What are you going to do?’   
I was quietened, and growled, shaking my head, I could feel fresh tears prick at my eyelids, what were they doing?   
‘I have your arms, why are you doing this?’ I yelled. ‘Let me go!’   
‘We just wanna have a chat, that’s all.’ He replied, the moving car made me feel sick. ‘That’s all, we’re not going to hurt you.’   
It was hard to trust him on that.   
I fought for the majority of the ride, and Cicero tried calming me down, but I wasn’t going to listen to him, at all. I wanted out, I wanted to be back home, I wasn’t safe and it made me feel absolutely uncomfortable. To be taken by a gang, wasn’t my plans for the day.   
The car stopped after about ten minutes, and when the door opened I tried kicking whoever did so, but I missed and was grabbed out, my head hitting the car door frame. I cussed and waited, standing still, and finally as I was guided somewhere; they took my hood off.   
I breathed in tightly as my eyes adjusted to the light of the room I stood in, cicero was at his desk, around him about five goons smirked my way. One brought my bag in, throwing it at my side, to which I turned and cussed. ‘Hey! Your stuff is in this bag!’   
‘Show me.’ Cicero ordered. ‘Now.’   
I grimaced and looked around again, where the hell was I? it looked like some sort of warehouse maybe? But they were everywhere, who knows exactly what warehouse I was standing in.   
I swallowed and leant down slowly, grabbing my bag and stepping forward to Cicero’s big desk. He grinned and raised his eyebrows at me, and I cringed. I took one of the arms out, and he grabbed it without hesitation. He had both working arms, but im assuming he was doing a transplant, I should have rigged it to explode. He grabbed a left and a right and whistled, forcing them to blast fire from the fingertips. ‘Nice.’   
‘Nice, can I go now?’ I asked. ‘And have my drachmae?’   
He looked at me, raised his eyebrows again and placed his arms down, crossed his own and shrugged. ‘I dunno, I feel like you’re not telling me the truth.’   
Oh fuck.   
‘I am.’ I said, reaching for the sleeve of my jacket again. I turned off my emotion sensor, once more, without them realising. ‘I am Cicero.’   
He tensed his neck and nodded to one of his goons behind, when I turned he grabbed my wrist and pinned it down against the table, I gasped as he did this. His touch was rough, and I smacked him with my other hand, but he was much bigger than I, and stronger.   
‘Just in case.’ Cicero began, moving to the side of the room, when I looked his way, he had an iron rod in his hands. ‘I think its best we mark you.’   
‘Wait!’ I panicked, shaking my head, trying my best to move away from the other goons grip. ‘You don’t have to do this! You shouldn’t!’   
‘We shouldn’t…’ Cicero paused, lifted his hand and then smiled. ‘But we’re going to, just in case.’   
My heart was racing faster and faster every step he took towards me, there was no way this was happening right now. Everything was happening so fast I couldn’t keep up. Stop! I didn’t want this!   
‘Please, Cicero!’ I begged, sounding absolutely pathetic, even to myself. ‘Don’t do this, if people see they’ll think I’m…’  
‘What?’ he paused inches away from my skin, lifting my chin with his finger. ‘Part of us?’   
I swallowed, tears prickling my eyes once more.   
‘You are.’ He grinned, yellow teeth evident, they were sparked with diamonds. ‘Since you made a deal with us years ago.’   
He finally pressed red hot iron into my wrist, and I yelled in utmost pain. It was horrible, like stinging bees going at it on my skin. He held down for a minute, before lifting it and examining his work with his fellow friends. ‘Look’s good to me.’   
I finally was let go of, and I grabbed my wrist, holding it tight. ‘Fuck!’   
‘Now you can’t join the Maximus.’ Cicero laughed, patting my back, ‘No matter what, they’ll always check your wrist for a sign.’   
I was screwed, 100% screwed.   
‘That was fucking unnecessary!’ I cried, turning to face Cicero, I could have smacked him right there and then, but that would have been a death wish. ‘You malaka!’   
He chuckled and patted me across the shoulder, shrugging his own. ‘You’ll be alright, now you’re part of the family.’  
‘I am not!’ I protested. ‘I only do commissions for you!’   
‘That’s technically working for us.’ Cicero said, he rummaged through his drawers and brought out a fat envelope. ‘Here.’   
He threw it at me, and I caught it, physical drachmae?   
‘Why not digital?’ I asked, concerned. ‘Why is this different?’   
‘I won a bet, the guy only had physical, watched the fight on Monday night, of course I chose Kassandra.’   
I swallowed at that name, man what I would do to see her right now, I bet she could smack every single one of these goons in the face and knock them out in one go.   
‘Now, time to go.’ He smiled, clicking his finger.   
‘Hey wait wait!’ I protested, but I was shrouded in darkness once again. 

I didn’t protest when I was thrown into the back of the car again. I had too much going on through my mind, the fact that all of what happened, happened; lead my heart to sink. I held my wrist as I was driven hopefully back to my bike, it was sore, bleeding and itchy. I couldn’t believe it, I was literally marked by a gang. If mater saw this, she would freak out, knowing exactly what it meant. I didn’t expect my work to get me into such trouble, but now how was I going to work for the Maximus gang? They’d kill me on the spot. I needed protection, someone to help me, come with me to the meetings whenever they needed something, with hopefully less questions when they see someone with potential to beat the hell out of another.   
I paused.   
Kassandra.   
Oh but I couldn’t ask her such a thing, I know she was caught up in her own issues, bringing my issues on her wouldn’t be fair. But she was the only one that came to mind whenever I thought of a stronger person. Someone who could protect me from damage, or worse; death.   
I was kicked out of the car once it had stopped, a click got my attention from behind my head, and then in a split second they were gone, zooming off. I cussed heaps, grabbed what was over my head and took it off, gasping for fresh rainy air. I examined my surroundings, an alleyway that the end opened up to the city square. I could see my bike from where I stood, and when I turned I could only see the dust left behind from Cicero’s gang car. I hissed from the pain of my new mark, and just knew it was going to infect if I didn’t get first aid onto it pronto. Letting everything sink in, I rushed to my bike and grabbed the first aid box that thankfully every new model came with. Nobody was watching as I squirted antiseptic oil all over my wrist, but they turned when I yelped and swore loudly. I ignored them, wrapped my wrist with a bandage that then automatically tied itself, and sat against my parked bike. I wanted to cry, I really did. But something was stopping me, a burning feeling in my chest that I originally thought was the emotion sadness, was actually anger. They’d pay for this.   
-

After (painfully) walking to get my mater more bio fluid, I found myself laying against my couch in my garage, I tried to make a little living quarters, but everything seemed to be a little uncomfortable. I unwrapped my wrist to check, and flinched at the damage. There it was, a circle with Greek words smack bang in the middle, the titan Kronos’s face depicted angrily along it. I could get this removed, but I didn’t have the drachmae for it, nor would anyone remove it for me, seeing as it was a gang sign. I’d be thrown out of the building for it. I leant forward and held my head, maybe I should call Roxana and talk to her about this, or maybe mater would understand if I told her slowly. No, nobody would understand, and I’d lose both of them if they knew. But, Kassandra, surely she would understand, and she left her number behind for a reason didn’t she?   
I swallowed and grabbed my phone, placing it down on the little dining table in front of me, and waited for the holographic images to appear. There she was, as handsome as ever, a new contact that flashed blue. I grimaced and said ‘fuck it’ under my breath, typing a message to her quickly and promptly. I had asked her to come around, for a beer, and a chat. Maybe she took it in a different way, but I hoped she would understand and come over. It took her three minutes to respond, and it was positive.   
‘Hi Kyra, sure I’ll come around, see you in half an hour.’   
I blushed, corrected myself and grabbed my phone, shoving it in my pocket, ouch! My wrist. I cleaned my garage just the slightest, checked if my fridge had beers, did I even have any snacks? Ugh I was panicking.   
There it was, the knock at my garage door. I swore under my breath, knowing exactly why I invited her around. I watched the door ascend, and there she stood, in black jeans, a white shirt and bomber jacket, she looked great. But as I examined her a little closer, I realised the dark circles under her eyes. She looked exhausted.   
‘Uh, Hi.’ I smiled, waving a little. ‘Welcome.’   
Kassandra smiled shortly, stepping in and crossing her arms. ‘Good to see you.’   
Aw.   
‘Come in,’ I said, closing the door as I spoke. ‘Its gonna start raining out there soon.’   
She nodded and took her jacket off, I had the heaters on anyway, so it was warm, yet I wasn’t taking my jacket off, not just yet. I should have gotten a sweater from upstairs, ugh stupid Kyra. ‘Would you like a drink?’   
‘Cant say no to free beer.’ She replied, laughing shortly. ‘Thank you.’   
I once again, like clockwork, took two beers; opened them and handed one to Kassandra.   
‘Seems like you have an unlimited amount in there.’ She joked, sipping. ‘Is it true?’   
I turned to check, and smiled. ‘Maybe I do!’   
It went silent, but just for a minute before Kassandra looked around and laughed. ‘I find myself in the garage once again, this time in light.’   
I felt guilty and eased my eyes, sighing. ‘I’m so sorry about that.’   
‘I’m only joking, don’t worry!’ she replied. ‘It’s a nice place you have, I bet upstairs is even nicer.’   
‘Pfft!’ I blew my lips together, shaking my head. ‘No way, this house is old, like me.’   
‘I mean, how old are you?’ she asked me next, ‘You look young.’   
‘I’m 24.’ I replied. ‘You?’   
’26.’ She chuckled. ‘Older.’   
I felt bad then, and smacked my forehead. ‘I’m sorry, again.’   
‘You need to stop apologising.’ She laughed. ‘You seem to do it a lot.’   
She had a point.   
I walked towards the couch and coaxed her to come sit, which she did. We sat in awkward silence, before she opened her mouth and asked a few questions about me. She asked if fixing limbs was what I did for work, I answered yes and told her a bit about my mechanic backstory, that during school all I did was work on my classmates broken robots, fixing them and making them ecstatic. She then asked what school I went to, if I lived in Mykonos my whole life, my hobbies. It was the small talk I was enjoying, talking to such a beautiful specimen. I returned the same questions, except about Mykonos of course, she spoke about Sparta and how lovely it was, how the city was ginormous compared to ours, when she spoke I saw a longing to be back there, so I gained the courage to ask.   
‘Why are you all the way here?’   
She paused, the bottle close to her lips, she took a sip and sighed. ‘Work, work made me move.’   
‘And do you like it here?’ I asked. ‘Or?’   
‘I mean, I like it.’ She smiled and placed her bottle down, leaning back into the couch backing. ‘I just wish I could see my mater back home, she thinks I’m here for work, well, different work, she thinks I’m interning at the Adonis, but in reality I’m working for the big honcho and fighting his dirty battles.’   
‘Why are you?’ I asked another personal question. ‘Why are you fighting?’   
She looked me in the eye and considered something, she looked pretty gutted by my question, so I panicked again and touched her shoulder, gently, briskly. ‘You don’t have to answer, I’m sorry.’   
‘No, no.’ she replied, leaning up and examining her surroundings again. ‘I haven’t opened up about it to someone in a while, I kinda just do what I’m told, I never ask questions nor do I speak about my work, but…’   
She turned to me again and smiled, blinking. ‘I feel like I can trust you.’   
Aw shit. Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, it made my heart flutter. But could she?  
She prepared herself for her talk, telling me it was a long story and that she was going to shorten it.   
‘Back in Sparta, I had a partner, a lover.’ She nodded, itching her neck. ‘She was gorgeous, strong, studied martial arts at the Daughters of Artemis Academy.’   
‘Daphnae…’ I mumbled under my breath.   
‘How do you-‘   
‘You mumbled it while you were concussed just yesterday.’ I nervously said. ‘I didn’t mean to-‘  
‘Don’t apologise.’ She patted my knee strongly, ‘Or I’ll start charging you.’   
We chuckled together, but her laugh faded and she sighed a bit. ‘Daphnae was wonderful, loving, caring, everything you wanted in a girlfriend really.’   
Ok, way to make me jealous Kassandra.   
‘But we both got caught up one night, drinking on the town, and we stumbled across an abandoned, well what we thought was abandoned, home.’ Kassandra explained, drinking from her beer again. ‘We were going to get close, when we were bombarded by men, they captured us, told us we were in the wrong place, at the time I didn’t realise it was Caesars men.’   
I grimaced, and she returned a similar look. But then sorrow flew over her expression, she swallowed and I watched it.   
‘They, uh.’ She paused, leaning forward, her arms between her legs. ‘They got rid of Daphnae, ended her right there and then. Payback for being on their property.’   
I held my mouth a little, holy shit, I didn’t know that she had died. Poor Kassandra.  
‘And me?’ she shrugged and patted her bicep. ‘They made me work for them, told me they needed a fighter, and if I refused, my mater would be next.’   
Something similar.   
‘I’m so sorry.’ I genuinely spoke, my hand reaching for hers. ‘I am so, so sorry.’   
‘You’re alright.’ She smiled shortly, ‘This happened about five years ago.’   
‘Five?’ I gasped. ‘You’ve been fighting for them for five years?’   
‘Yeah, they saw potential in me, knew they could make a lot of money with my fighting skills. I did attend Daphnae’s school for a while, but I was kicked out for starting too many fights.’  
That sounded like something she would do. I smiled lightly, and she returned one. ‘I know, typical.’   
I let her catch her breath, and she shakily sighed once more. ‘And here I am.’   
‘So you really just got caught up in the wrong crowd, hey?’ I asked sympathetically. ‘Those malakas.’   
‘Yep, exactly right.’ She replied, finishing her drink and swallowing. ‘But I only have a few more months until this season is over, then I’ll be going back to Sparta.’   
‘And see your mater.’ I grinned, happy for her to be over with this horrible nightmare. ‘Fantastic.’   
‘Yes…’ she nodded. ‘I miss her a lot.’   
‘I’m sure.’   
It fell silent, and I avoided eye contact with her for a bit, she was looking around again, until she turned to me and said the words I feared she was going to say.  
‘And why did you really call me here, Kyra?’ she asked, seriously. ‘Not just for a beer and a chat, I think.’   
I looked at her, smiled awkwardly and rubbed the side of my nose. ‘Uh, about that…’   
‘Mm?’  
I rose up, pocketed my hands and faced her, gritting my teeth. ‘There’s something I need help with.’   
‘Ah…’ Kassandra spoke, leaning back once more. ‘And that is?’   
I guess it was my time to be open to her.  
‘I’m in a bit of trouble, too.’ I admitted. ‘Serious, trouble.’   
‘Aren’t we all.’ She replied. ‘But no, what’s the matter?’   
‘I mean, I know we don’t know one another very well…’ I paused and waved my hand as I spoke. ‘And I know our meeting wasn’t exactly, normal.’   
‘That’s true.’   
‘Ah, malaka I’m just going to explain it.’ I sighed. ‘I do work for gangs.’   
She froze, looked at me and burst out laughing.  
I froze too, confused.   
She wiped a tear from her eye after laughing for about half a minute, and then she pointed at me.   
‘You?’ she asked, her voice cracking. ‘You’re working for the Maximus?’   
‘Not just the Maximus!’ I panicked, crossing my arms a bit sour. ‘But the Titans too.’   
‘Oh.’ Kassandra stopped laughing, and it all processed through her brain. ‘Oh, shit.’   
‘Yeah!’ I whimpered, sitting back down and leaning my chin on my hands. ‘And Cicero caught me today, after I made the delivery they did this to me.’   
I unwrapped my wrist and showed Kassandra, and she gasped, taking it closer and examining the mark that had surprisingly healed up, branding a red circle. ‘Oh, Kyra…’   
I felt uncomfortable with her seeing it, and pulled my arm back, holding it away from her. ‘I know.’   
It was odd, sitting here with her and talking like we’d known one another for years. I felt like I could be open with her, even though she judged me just seconds ago, I know deep down she didn’t mean it.   
‘I don’t know what to do, if Urion askes for something soon, they’ll see this for sure.’   
‘Not necessarily, you can hide it with a jacket, a long sleeve…’   
‘I guess, but I’m worried I’ll show it somehow.’   
‘But that’s not all you wanted to tell me is it?’ Kassandra spoke. ‘You want my help don’t you?’   
I looked her way, with worried eyes, and she cocked her head to the side a bit, sympathetically her lips pursed. ‘Okay.’   
‘What?’ I asked, confused. ‘You don’t even know what I need you for.’   
‘You want me to come with you, act as your personal body guard…’ she grabbed her beer bottle and touched the rim, flicking it with her fingers. ‘Its not the first time someone asked.’   
‘I don’t want you thinking I’m using you, or anything like that!’ I said. ‘I just…’   
‘Mm?’   
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘I feel like I can trust you.’   
‘A bold statement.’ Kassandra laughed softly, patting my back. ‘A very bold statement.’   
She kept her hand there, and I just wanted to lean back into her arms all of a sudden. I blushed and swallowed, clearing my throat. ‘Can’t I?’   
Kassandra paused and pulled her hand back, smirking. ‘I don’t know.’   
‘Well I have no other choice.’ I replied, crossing my arms. ‘I need to.’   
‘And I do owe you, after all.’ Kassandra admitted, nodding her head. ‘After you helped me yesterday.’   
I smiled and looked at her, raising my eyebrows. ‘That is true.’   
‘Then its final, I’ll help you for helping me.’ She rose up and brushed herself off. ‘Okay?’   
I stood up, so small compared to her. And clasped my hands together. ‘Thank you, Kassandra.’   
She waved me off and grabbed my wrist again, gently. I paused under her touch and her eyebrows furrowed. She was examining the mark, with her synthetic hand she pressed into it, her fingertips cold to the touch.   
I hissed in pain, but watched as little lasers did their work, healing the damaged skin. Her model was so new and improved that it even had a medical device inside it? Wow.   
In seconds the skin was completely healed, but she kept holding my wrist. ‘There.’   
‘T-Thankyou.’ I blushed, clearing my throat and acting tough again. ‘Thankyou.’   
She smiled and let go, checking the time on her own wrist. ‘I have to go, but you call me whenever Cicero and Urion contact you, and I’ll come over.’   
I smiled and patted her arm, and she patted mine. ‘No problem.’   
‘Thank you again, for having me.’ She grabbed my hand, kissed it and waited for the door to ascend. ‘It’s lovely chatting with you, Kyra.’   
Ugh, she was such a heartthrob.   
‘You too, Kassandra.’ I smiled.   
Two days in a row now, I was blessed with seeing the warrior, and now she was helping me. Before she could step into the rain, I blurted out a question.   
‘Wait!’ I called. ‘Where are you staying tonight?’   
She turned, raised eyebrows and smirked flirtatiously. ‘Why do you need to know?’   
I blushed, taken back, and quickly caught myself. ‘I guess I’m worried!’   
Now she was taken back by my words.   
But I was worried, even if I only knew this woman slightly. The thought of her sleeping on the streets was horrible, and now that I knew the true origins behind her, and Daphnae, I knew she didn’t have a girlfriend to cuddle up to during these cold nights.   
‘I haven’t thought that far ahead.’ She admitted. ‘But I’ll figure something out.’   
‘Well..’ I looked back towards my couch, that could open up to become a bed if it wanted too, what a coincidence. ‘You’re welcome to crash here at night.’   
She looked my way, smiled and crossed her arms. ‘Are you sure?’   
Spending more time with you? I thought, I was sure.   
‘That would actually be a great help.’ Kassandra said, stepping towards me. ‘Nobody has offered me a place to stay in a long while.’   
‘Well seeing as you’re only allowed to stay at the Adonis before your fights, you are always welcome to stay here.’ I responded. ‘Plus I owe you a lot.’   
‘I thought we already fulfilled what we owed one another!’ she laughed. ‘Now I owe you something in return.’   
Oh I had heaps in mind, on my dirty, dirty mind.   
Shut up, Kyra.   
‘It’s fine, really.’ I said. ‘I usually work late, so if you’re heading over just give me a text.’   
‘I will.’   
‘Okay.’   
She said her goodbye, but this time she turned as she walked and waved at me, a big smile on her lips. I did the same, watching her vanish once more.   
Well.. these things happen for a reason, I kept telling myself. Kassandra and I had built trust, a little bit of it, but enough.   
I felt safer already.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors note: thanks to all who have read this far, there will be some romance blooming in this chapter. Appreciate all who take their time to read my fic. Bit of a shorter update. 

For the rest of the day, I spent with mater upstairs. We cooked dinner together, a delicious Greek meal full of lamb and vegetables. She wore her wig this afternoon, she was feeling confident too. I wore a long sleeve shirt, taking Kassandra’s idea, I wouldn’t know how to explain the mark on my skin to my mother let alone anyone else. She watched the news, she knew the origins of the Titan’s seal. I felt guilty, immensely guilty about the whole thing, I was second guessing my work, but how else was I meant to pay bills and keep mater safe? After we sat down and ate together, we spoke about my work, and I lied, telling her that my clients were just friends and the local companies near the cities edge. She was happy for me, saying how proud she was and stuff, man it just made me feel even worse. I ate slowly as she talked about the money I was making, and how it paid all her bills, how I was able to come home with bio fluid for her medical condition. Oh stop mater, you were hurting me without even knowing.   
After we’d eaten, she went to her room to watch her Greek soap operas, and I grabbed the leftovers and headed downstairs to my work station, I think Barnabas wanted me to fix one of his eyes that I had laying around, I could do that tonight, I had nothing else, yet. I popped some of my music on and sat down in my wheelie chair, popping my glasses on, they magnified it all and I could see every wick and wire in old Barny’s replacement eye. This would keep me busy, especially because my mind was running marathons, thinking about the two gangs I had gotten myself involved with, worried whenever my phone was going to blow up with Urion’s number. But you know who else was on my mind, of course, Kassandra. And like a miracle, some sort of special spell, there was a knock at my garage door, and a beep from my phone.   
My heart skipped a beat, and I checked my cell quickly, seeing her name pop up with just the simple words. ‘Here.’   
I think I hopped to the door, excited to see her, I took a deep breath and collected myself, opening it. There she stood, with a duffel bag and a smile on her lips. ‘Hi.’   
‘So you’ve taken my offer up then?’ I chuckled. ‘Come in.’   
‘I must thank you,’ she started as she followed me inside, I closed the door behind us both. ‘I wasn’t sure where I was going to go tonight.’   
I felt for her, really. This whole situation she was in was horrible, and they weren’t even housing the poor woman.   
‘You’re welcome for as long as you need.’ I said, grabbing her bag. ‘Here, let me take this.’   
She allowed me to take it, and boy was it heavy. ‘Ouch, what the hell is in here?’ I asked. ‘More metal arms?’   
‘My whole lives worth.’ She joked, grabbing it with her mechanical arm. ‘Let me.’   
I felt silly giving it back to her, but it was incredibly heavy. She breathed in awkwardly, smiling at me. ‘So, up to much?’   
Was this really happening? This weird small talk?   
‘Yeah, just working on a friends eye.’   
‘What?’   
‘Oh!’ I laughed, smacking my forehead a little. ‘My friend has a prosthetic eye, and he wanted me to fix it, so that’s all I've been doing since…’  
I paused, cringed and touched my wrist again. ‘Since Cicero got his order.’   
Kassandra looked towards my concern over my wrist, she was about to say something when I butted in, I didn’t want her sympathy right now, not after all the years of sympathy from my friends about my mother. ‘Are you hungry?’   
‘Actually, yeah.’ She replied. ‘Starving.’   
I jumped to my fridge and grabbed the leftovers, turning and brandishing them her way. ‘My maters famous lamb, do you want it?’   
She chuckled and stepped towards me, taking it from my hands. ‘How can I say no?’   
I gladly gave it to her, and a fork I had lying around. She asked where she could sit, and I told her the couch was fine by me, where she’d be sleeping tonight anyway. As she sat and ate, she beckoned me to sit with her, and I couldn’t say no to her, no way. As she ate, we spoke. And out of nowhere she told me about her plans after the contract with Caesar ended. She told me she would go back to Sparta, see her mater and pater, tell them the truth about her endeavours here in Mykonos. She said she was worried about the backlash, and I added that I was worried what my own mater would say if she knew I was working for two gangs. I told her that we had to do what we had to do, to make drachmae, to live. Kassandra seemed pleased to hear that, and agreed. She asked me about my hobbies next, the most typical questions you would ask, on a first date, which this definitely wasn’t. Was it?   
I told her at an early age I enjoyed sports, being fit, and she then tensed her muscles, showing off with a sly smirk. ‘Same.’   
‘Yeah but not all of us are blessed with muscles like you, Kassandra.’ I pouted, ‘I only have a little.’   
‘Show me!’ she placed her takeaway platter down among the table and crossed her arms. ‘I want to see.’   
I was hesitant at first, but she begged me, and ugh, like I said before, I couldn’t say no to someone like her. I flexed my biceps, and she gasped, grabbing it and squeezing lightly. ‘Strong!’   
‘Are you kidding me.’ I denied, pulling away and popping my hands under my armpits, hiding from her.   
She laughed, grabbed the plate again and raised her eyebrows, chewing another piece of meat. ‘This is wonderful, your mater is a great cook.’   
‘She is, she enjoys cooking when she isn’t-‘   
Oh shit.   
I paused, clearing my throat. But it was too late, of course it was too late.   
Kassandra chewed slowly and waited for me to finish. ‘She isn’t?’   
I jumped up and rushed to the radio in my garage, popping some tunes on to change the subject. ‘Do you like this stuff?’ I asked, loudening it. ‘It’s my favourite.’   
‘I’m not really one for music.’ She replied, thankfully going along with my subject change. ‘Only some songs get me pumping.’   
‘Oh?’ I replied. ‘Heavy metal?’   
‘No way,’ she returned. ‘Who do you take me for?’   
‘A big buff warrior who listens to heavy metal.’ I simply responded. ‘That’s you, right?’   
I realised my words were a little flirtatious, and my cheeks reddened just the slightest. What was I doing? Flirting with someone like her, she was too good to be true, and probably saw me as some fan of hers, giving her a place to stay, feeding her, anyone would do that. She laughed and shook her head, finishing her meal, the tabbouli and the lamb was a good mix it seemed, she patted her belly and im sure I heard an echo from how strong it was, ok I was over doing it. ‘Thank you so much for that, I haven’t had a home cooked meal in a long time.’   
Aw, I felt bad for her, really I did. But her words made my heart stutter, I felt like telling her I’d cook for her whenever she wanted. We spoke about her hobbies next, of course mixed martial arts was the first thing she said, secondly it was a movie here and there, hiking in the greens of Sparta. All active things, very different from me who told her I enjoyed tinkering with mechanics, fixing household appliances and the usual video game here and there. She thought that was cute, and told me it was too.   
‘Surprisingly I did do kickboxing back in high school, my mater wanted me to have some self defence.’ I roamed to my table, sitting back in my chair and grabbing my screws. ‘But I wasn’t very good at it.’   
‘I beg to differ!’ Kassandra said, smiling. ‘We should spar, right here!’   
I laughed in response, shaking my head and waving my hand at her. ‘No way, I wouldn’t want to beat you.’   
I was kidding, clearly.   
‘Is that a challenge?’ she asked, a flirtatious tone at the end of her words. ‘Come! Fight me.’   
I realised I’d gotten myself into something I shouldn’t have, and denied her offer, telling her I was kidding and that I’d get beaten to a pulp. But then she rose, eyes wide, hand rubbing her neck awkwardly.   
‘Oh I was kidding too!’ she said, panicked. ‘I’d never hurt you!’   
I froze, looked at her under my precision glasses, and saw she was absolutely serious. She looked cute when she was put on the spot.   
‘Kassandra, it’s okay.’ I laughed, itching the side of my nose. ‘I know you were joking.’   
She sighed relief and fell back to a sit, her chest falling as she exhaled all the anxiety I’d put on her. Gods, I never thought I’d see that side of her, but I was hoping to see it more. It was nice to hear that she worried about hurting me, although we knew each other for only a short amount of time, I felt like we were really connecting.   
‘Do you mind if I do some more work?’ I asked, I really should have had the eye finished last week. ‘If you press the button on the side of the couch it should turn into a bed, long enough for someone as tall as you.’   
‘Oh no, go ahead.’ Kassandra sweetly replied, ‘Can I help in any way?’   
‘Only if you know how to fix short circuits.’ I chuckled. ‘Then gladly.’   
‘Ah,’ she froze, rose up and grabbed the food container. ‘I can punch things pretty hard, maybe that will work?’   
We both laughed, her warm company leaving me all gooey inside.   
She threw away the container, sat back down and started rummaging through her bag. On the corner of my eye as I worked, I watched her fiddle with her prosthetic arm, with one twist, her forearm was off, and she placed it aside, charging it I assumed. Next was her leg, and that popped off easily too, but she cussed, and caught my attention.   
‘Malaka.’ She groaned, looking deep inside the circuits, I hummed in return, questioning her outburst. ‘I’m leaking.’   
I rose up from my chair and headed her way, without hesitation. ‘Let me have a look.’   
She handed it to me from behind, and I took my eyes off her bicep and strong shoulders, picking up the heavy right leg. She was right, it was leaking a little inside, blue bio fluid would damage the other circuits if it was left alone, especially overnight. But I’d fixed heaps of these in my time, and reassured her it’d be up and working in no time. She was very thankful, and offered to pay, but I denied that and sped back to my table, grabbing a spare part from the drawer and a pouch of bio fluid from my fridge. I could see she was watching me work, but the more time passed, the more her eyes drifted to a close. She fell asleep in twenty minutes, mumbling goodnight, a thankyou and that she owed me. I smiled, waited for her to be out cold, and rose up again from my seat.   
Roxana fell asleep here a few times, so I always had a spare blanket and pillow stashed away in the cupboards. Slowly and quietly I grabbed both, dragged the covers over Kassandra’s long body, and then gently cupped the back of her head, lifting it to pop the pillow behind it. She seemed content after she felt its comfortable texture, and mumbled another thank you. I paused and smiled, nodding once to myself. Whatever this was, this contact between us, in a short amount of time, was appreciated.   
I let her sleep soundly that night, tinkering with my job quieter than ever before. 

-


	7. Chapter 7

Authors note: I didn’t have time to read over the work, so sorry if there is any errors. Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to leave your thoughts. :) thanks. 

Thursday morning was a gloomy one, it was pouring outside at the early time of seven am. It was oddly soothing to me, unless I was caught in it. I sat upon my bed for about twenty minutes, staring out my window, holding my knees close to my chest. I itched my wrist under my long sleeve, I had to be careful with this mark now, if my mater saw it she’d get sicker, and I couldn’t afford that. After having a moment to myself, letting the days past take hold of my brain and rattle it, I rose up to continue my daily routine. After getting changed, I stepped downstairs quietly, turning the heater on, the coffee machine, maybe I’d make one for Kassandra, who I’d hoped was still asleep. Maters room was colder than usual, so I turned up the heat in that particular spot, she stirred in her sleep and I said sorry, knowing well she hated these early morning rises more than I did. She mumbled good morning to me, and I returned it, sitting by her torso. She touched my face and told me I looked tired, and I agreed with her, lying that it was my work all night in the garage. She was concerned, but I reassured her I was fine, and began transferring bio fluid her way. She didn’t question the long sleeve shirt, thank the gods. I kissed her forehead as she lulled back to sleep, and the guilt started to seep through my veins. I swallowed and left her alone, smelling the aroma of coffee from the kitchenette. I grabbed two cups today, it left me feeling a little giddy, Kassandra was so amazing, and I really enjoyed her presence. So I was really hoping she was still downstairs, I thought this as I made my way there, holding the cups carefully; I should have been fine doing so as I used to work as a barista back in my high school days.  
As I opened the door leading into the garage, I was relieved to find her awake, popping her arm back on. She turned her head, smiled and greeted me. ‘Good morning, Kyra.’  
I replied softly, closing the door behind me. ‘Morning, I brought you coffee.’  
‘Ah, wonderful!’ she exclaimed gently. ‘I usually get a cheap one from the service station, as well as a cup of bio fluid, but home brewed sounds way better.’  
Everything she said made me feel more and more sympathy, she deserved so much more than this life.  
I handed it to her and she hissed a little, saying it was hot. I chuckled and took a sip from my own, sitting beside her. She pointed to the blanket and pillow, smiling. ‘And thank you for this, it was freezing last night.’  
‘I know, so I made sure you were warm and toasty.’ I replied.  
‘I appreciate it.’ She said, the blanket still at her legs.  
She asked me what I would be doing today, and I told her I would be seeing Barnabas, getting some parts and pretty much waiting on another call to give me some work. At one point she grabbed my wrist gently and examined the mark, her touch made me freeze. I hadn’t felt this for a while, feelings for someone so handsome and compassionate, when she looked as if she could break you in two. I found myself drifting off into thoughts, but she brought me back to reality with a snap of her fingers, and a smile. ‘Someone still tired?’  
I chuckled and leant back into the couch backing, shrugging my shoulders. ‘Something like that.’  
I wanted to open up to her about mater, but I didn’t think it was the right time, especially with all that was going on right now. Kassandra raised her eyebrows again, waiting for me to explain, but when I didn’t; she grabbed her coffee and drank quietly. Ugh this awkwardness was silencing. But I guess when you had things to hide, it was unavoidable.  
‘What about you?’ I asked, changing the subject. ‘What plans do you have?’  
Kassandra paused, sighed and grimaced, finishing her coffee like a pro. I was impressed.  
‘I have to go train, the whole day before tomorrow nights fight.’ She said, she sounded annoyed. ‘Caesar likes me primed and ready, so I can win.’  
‘But you’d win anyway.’ I laughed. ‘There’s no way you can lose.’  
‘Are you sure about that?’ she chuckled back. ‘I have my days where I’m a pretty horrid fighter.’  
I found that pretty hard to believe.  
Before I could tell her that, her arm began to chime. She jumped, touched it and groaned. ‘One moment.’  
She answered it, and his face popped up as a holograph. Someone I hated, someone I loathed. Pater.  
He was angry, fuming, but maybe that was just his face these days. I threw myself to the end of the couch, he wouldn’t see me. On the corner of my eye Kassandra was looking at me, confused.  
‘Kassandra.’ He spoke.  
‘Sir.’ She replied.  
‘I’m only contacting you because Caesar has his… mouth full.’ Pater told her, chuckling under his breath. ‘How are things?’  
I found it hard to believe my father would be calling Kassandra of Sparta to ask her how things are, something was up, and he was behind it.  
‘Sir, I find it odd you’re calling me to ask how I am.’ Kassandra answered what I was thinking, her face pulled in confusion. ‘Is something the matter?’  
He laughed again, shaking his head. ‘I just wanted to see how my wonderful warrior is.’  
So… Kassandra was working for Caesar AND my pater? Great. How would I tell her about his actual origins, what he did to mater…  
As sadness took over me, I listened to them converse. Podarkes was telling her that she needed to win, that he had a lot of money on her, and Kassandra simply answered with that she would win, and he had nothing to worry about. The conversation was cut short when a yell was heard, and a awkward laugh by my father, telling Kassandra not to worry about where it came from. I glanced behind Kassandra’s head, hoping there was nothing in the garage he could spot and figure out she was staying with his daughter.  
‘I look forward to hearing about your victory.’ He finally said. ‘Talk soon.’  
When Kassandra hung up, she sighed and turned to me, who was sitting curled up like a complete idiot, trying to hide from his view. She questioned me, and I straightened up, shaking my head and saying I didn’t enjoy being in other peoples calls. But I had to ask, and I had the right to.  
‘You work for the great Podarkes?’ I asked. ‘I thought you worked for Caesar?’  
‘Both.’ She grimaced. ‘Caesar works for Podarkes, its odd he called me today, I hardly hear from him, just feel his wrath when things don’t go well.’  
I was shocked, my father was her bosses well, boss! This changed things. But it didn’t change the way I saw Kassandra.  
‘Why?’ she asked me. ‘Not a fan of him?’  
I felt the anger in my chest bloom, and bit my bottom lip; I wanted to explode and tell her everything, but it just wasn’t the time. I simply nodded.  
‘Not many are.’ Kassandra spoke, standing and folding the blanket carefully. ‘I don’t blame you.’  
He was a menace, and he was following me, absolutely everywhere. Now I was finding out he was Kassandra’s leader. Great.  
‘I gotta get going, though.’ She said. ‘Training starts at nine.’  
‘All day?’ I asked. ‘That’s torture.’  
She looked me in the eye and nodded. ‘You could call it that.’  
I helped her pack up her stuff, and she was thankful throughout it, always thanking me, light touches on my shoulder and my back. Finally after using the sink in the bathroom to clean her teeth, she patted her bag and smiled at me. ‘Well, thankyou for everything.’  
‘Not a problem…’ I replied, standing in front of her. ‘Any time at all.’  
She widened her arms, beckoning me to come forth and hug her, and I froze on the spot. I was about to hug this girl, oh Gods, why was this making me freeze up like a weirdo. I swallowed before finally stepping into her embrace, she squeezed hard and I felt my head fall into the crook of her neck.  
‘I mean it,’ she sweetly said, her warm breath on my ear. ‘I haven’t had a good nights sleep like that in a long time.’  
I patted her back, awkwardly. ‘I’m glad..’  
We parted ways, she told me she’d text me, and I said I was looking forward to it. And again I watched her walk off into the distance, turning to wave again. It was becoming a habit for the both of us. I smiled, closed my garage door and left it slightly ajar. I had to finish Barny’s eye.  
With Kassandra on my mind, and also my stupid pater, I got to work, trying my hardest to focus on his eye more than that angry looking ass hat. 

-

Friday.  
Kassandra didn’t come back Thursday night, but she did text me to see how I was. It was nice, being asked how my day was going. But after replying, I didn’t hear from her for a while. She must have been busy with training, poor girl. I found it quite weird how we were both caught up with gangs or big names, although she was open about hers, I was a bit hesitant to tell her exactly what was going on in my life. Mater wasn’t feeling well that day, she was throwing up all morning and I was with her throughout all of it, like hell I would leave her. I rang the at home doctor, hoping they had a time to come see her, and thankfully they did, so this was where I stood, at my actual house front door, waiting for the doctor to appear. I sat on my doorstep and watched the cars drive by, the kids play and the rain splatter down against the pavement. I probably looked odd to people who passed, I was so lost in my own world, so much on my mind. Pater, mater, Kassandra and work. I grabbed my wrist and squeezed hard, hoping when I let go the mark would vanish. I mean I could get cosmetic surgery on it, hide it, but if Cicero saw that, he’d just mark me again, there was no use getting rid of it, I just had to cover it as best as I could. The doctor appeared at 6:30, apologising that he was late. I lead him into my home, something I didn’t really like doing, and brought him to mater, who was sitting up in bed, her food I prepared not touched. He did his check ups on her, and came to the conclusion that it was food poisoning, surprisingly. The food I’d eaten was fine, I wonder how she caught something like that. He told me it might have been the bio fluid mixture too, and so I showed him which one I was using, and he told me that I’d have to get the more expensive brew.  
Great.  
Mater told me she was okay, that I was allowed to leave the house and do my own things. But I felt guilty doing that, but even the doctor told me it was alright, that the sickness had passed easily and it was just fatigue now. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I felt like crying, and I did, tears streaming down my face when the doctor left. Mater brought me into her arms, cooing me and letting me know she was alright, but any scare like that left me terrified, I wasn’t ready to lose my mother either. I felt like sobbing to her, telling her about what was going on, how pater was everywhere I looked, but I didn’t want to stress her out, no not at all. She drifted off, telling me if I was to go out, to let her know before I did so. I promised her I would, after all, I had Kassandra’s fight to watch at 9. So I made myself dinner that night, left overs as per usual, I wasn’t going to cook up a storm, not with my mindset right now. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go watch a cage fight, I felt like every second I had I was going to spend crying. But I fought it, and continued to eat, think about the past day and how happy Barnabas was when I delivered his eye, but it was gross seeing him pop out the other and fit the one I fixed into his socket, now that was uncomfortable. But it was cute to see him widen his arms and praise the gods for my existence. That was before my mother was sick, she started throwing up about 10am, and ever since I’d been on edge. I think I checked up on her about thirty times in two hours, but when 8:45 hit, I needed air. I told her I would be home as soon as possible, she was thankfully feeling better, actually eating the chicken soup I made for her. She told me not to worry, and that she’d call me if anything came up. I’d have my phone on me like a child now.  
I asked Roxana if she would come with me tonight, but even she had something on, so I was probably stuck on my own. I didn’t mind it, but I also didn’t want to be seen at a place like the Plastic at such a time. Oh well. I revved my engine on my bike and rode off into the night, it was spitting so I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head, today was just a horrid day. As I rode into the premise, there were crowds already migrating near the fight doors. I parked my bike not far from it, locked it so no freak would take it, and walked towards the entrance. Ah, a familiar face was waiting for me it seemed. Thaletas.  
‘Kyra!’ he called, rushing to my side. ‘It’s good to see you.’  
He hugged me without consent, and I grimaced, patting his arm gently. ‘Yes, hello Thaletas.’  
I wanted to slug him in the face for that, but he already told me he would see me inside and rushed back to his friends. I was only here for one person Thaletas! I wanted to scream, and it wasn’t him. The doors opened at 9 on the dot, and I hurried in before the old farts could, I needed a good seat. With my phone in my hand, I sat facing the arena, and looked everywhere for a face I didn’t want to see, my fathers.  
But thankfully he wasn’t here, at least I thought so. Id be able to spot his dumb guards easily. Since I was little, the same two guards would be following my father wherever he went, I remember them standing to the side when he beat my mother that fateful night, ugh it left me so angry. I was fuming in my feet, and nearly missed Kassandra’s opponents entry. Another strong figure, looked tough, tall and lanky. They seemed fast. She smiled to the crowd and threw her arms up, cheering alongside her followers. I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes, there was no way Kassandra would lose to someone like this. She had no chance.  
Kassandra was out next, again in her shorts and sports bra, she wasn’t so full busted, but she had something there to cover. She didn’t do the whole, look at me! Act, she just stepped into the ring and faced her opponent. But there was one moment where she looked into the crowd, caught my eye and winked. I smiled back, hiding my bashfulness, ugh she did things to me. The fight didn’t start for another five minutes, although to my surprise as soon as it did start, Kassandra was the one who was hit first. Everyone gasped and cringed by the hit, I covered my mouth as she stumbled to a fall, covering her nose that I think I heard crack. I saw her eyes fill with rage, and she rose up quickly, throwing her whole tall body weight into the other woman, who looked unprepared. Kassandra threw a kick, and it hit the other in the neck, she coughed and smacked into the cage fence to the side, and brought back another punch towards Kassandra. It was at that moment where I realised this shit was for real, she fell to the end of the ring, and Caesar stepped forward, I thought he was beckoning the referee to help her up, but he brought out something deadly, a stun stick. He stomped her way, she looked out of it, and stunned her to her senses. I gasped as she yelled, slamming her hand against the mesh floor. He stunned her once again, and she rose, like a wild bull. Holy crap, I didn’t know they fought this dirty. I looked around, as the crowds were all for it, wishing it continued, calling out ‘Stun her again!’ I was horrified. The fight continued on for a while, but Kassandra was being hurt the most, with punches and kicks going her way, she was bloodied, all over. Finally she snapped, and I saw this, something flipped in her, and her real true fighter came through. Her opponent widened her eyes as the 6” warrior threw herself at her, one kick, a punch another kick, three punches to the face, blood, everywhere. There was even a moment where Kassandra lost her footing, slamming into the barbwire fencing. I widened my own eyes as her blood splattered me across the hands, I wasn’t grossed out, just shocked to see what was happening before my very eyes. This was brutal! Too brutal!  
Before I could protest for it all to stop, Kassandra dealt the final blow, a quick kick into her opponents throat left her coughing and falling to her knees. Kassandra then threw her into a choke, and I watched the other girl pass out, falling into a pool of her own messy blood. The crowd went wild, on the corner of my eye so did Thaletas, he must have realised Kassandra wouldn’t lose. I watched her stand shakily, falling once, twice. She looked bad, really bad. She was grabbed by Caesars men, lead to a door out the back which I followed with my eyes. The announcer started cheering himself to the middle of the ring, letting everyone know the fight was fantastic, it was disgusting, I thought. If this was how Kassandra was being treated behind closed doors and out in the open, I wanted nothing to do with it, and I wouldn’t want her to be part of it either. I thought fast, and rushed towards that door, passing Caesars guards with preciseness and stealth. The door slammed open, and I turned, pretending to be on my phone.  
‘She’ll come to her senses, leave her in there.’ Caesar spoke, ‘We’ll come get her in the morning.’  
‘Alright sir.’  
A minute passed, until I turned and faced the door. The crowd was still cheering, I hated this noise. As I stepped inside, I spotted her, sitting in a chair, her head lulled back, bleeding. I panicked, rushing up to her and calling her name gently.  
‘Kassandra!’ I whispered highly, popping my hand above her head, she snapped, looked me in the eye and grabbed my arm tightly.  
Ouch.  
I flinched, and she widened her eyes when she realised who I was. ‘K-Kyra!’  
I nodded and examined her body, she was beat up very badly. ‘Oh gods… look what they’ve done to you.’  
I was worried, and my tone was evident of this. I cared about her, I did, it was less than a week since I’d known her, but she’d shown so much worry for me in that time, it was only good of me to show the same. I touched her cuts and she hissed in pain, leaning back into her chair again. I had to get her cleaned up, and quick. I listened to the crowds outside, they were still going at it, I had to find another way to get her out of here.  
‘Do you know any way out?’ I asked, lifting her head by the back of her neck. ‘Any back door?’  
She shook her head, looking sick. ‘I don’t…’  
I cussed under my breath and looked around, noticing a dark hallway that the room lead to. There had to be a way out, somewhere. ‘Stay here.’  
I felt silly saying that, she wasn’t in any condition to move.  
I hurried down the hallway, opening every door, and finally the last was leading out into the pouring rain. I jumped for joy a little, and headed back to Kassandra. But the door opened, and I flinched, hiding behind the couch. A brute man stepped in, cracking his knuckles. ‘Ah, here you are.’  
He grabbed Kassandra by the throat and lifted her from her chair, and I widened my eyes. What the fuck was happening now?  
He was balding and huge, he grinned. ‘This is for acting weak up there.’  
He threw his arm back, and there it was, a punch louder than I’d ever heard before, thrown right into Kassandra’s stomach. She let out a gurgled groan, fell to her knees and coughed. Really? They were hurting her for showing human emotion? This was messed up. I had to get her out of here, and quick.  
He laughed before leaving, and Kassandra started moaning, grumbling ‘malaka’ under her breath over and over.  
I picked her up, threw her arm around my neck and lifted her to safety. ‘Let’s get you out of here.’  
She looked me in the eye, hers lulled, mine wide with concern. ‘Thank you.’  
-  
I got her back to my garage in no time, she was conscious enough to hold onto me as I rode back. I was happy she wasn’t out of it that much. Although she couldn’t walk, not without stumbling. She groaned in pain as I lead her to the couch, she slumped, lay down and held her nose, swearing. ‘Ugh, it hurts.’  
‘I know.’ I agreed, grabbing my first aid kit from the cupboard. ‘I’ll get you fixed up, don’t worry.’  
‘You’re too good to me…’ she replied, coughing a lump of blood onto her shirt. ‘Too good…’  
I cleaned it up, bringing the bin to my leg. I felt horrible for her, she was in so much pain it showed, I wonder if she did feel weak showing that emotion, surely not. She wasn’t a God.  
I firstly cleaned up her nose, it was broken for sure. She winced, her eyes tightly shut. I swapped the pain away, grabbing her nose gently and holding my breath. ‘I’m going to break it back into place, okay?’  
I’d done this before, to my own nose back in school, broke it playing football with the boys. Kassandra hummed back, allowing me to finally crick it back into place. She yelled in aggravation, grabbing my whole body and squeezing me into a forced hug. I was taken back by it, but reassured her it was going to be okay. I wished Thaletas was here to see this was a hug I was HAPPY with receiving.  
‘Fuck!’ she cried, ‘That hurt!’  
‘I’m sorry!’ I apologised, leaning back up to view my work, it was bleeding again, but looked perfectly back in place. ‘I’ll clean it up, hang on.’  
She mumbled to herself as I cleaned, holding her head back to stop the bleeding. I didn’t expect this to happen, me, her, cleaning her wounds on my couch in my garage. From the last fight I expected her to be cleaned up by professionals, clearly I was wrong. I felt bad, knowing last time she was probably damaged for showing any sign of weakness in the ring. Her face was fine in five minutes, the cut above her eyebrow stitched up with preciseness, but I could tell she was wincing from the pain in her lower back. So I asked her to lean on her stomach, so I could fix that up.  
‘I’m sorry…’ she groaned as she did what she was told. ‘I didn’t expect this to happen.’  
‘Why are you apologising?’ I asked, wiping down the barbed wire cuts near the dimples at the bottom of her spine. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for.’  
‘Yes I do…’ she replied, grumbling as I used antiseptic to clean the wound. ‘We’ve known each other for such a short amount of time, yet you’ve let me stay in your home-‘  
‘Garage.’ I corrected.  
‘You’re cleaning me up after a fight, feeding me, listening to me.’  
‘I want to.’ I replied, blushing knowing she couldn’t see. ‘I like helping others.’  
‘You’re wonderful.’ She said, but yelled into the pillows as I started cleaning deeper.  
I smiled sympathetically, patching her up with medicinal band aids. The bin was full of bloodied wipes after, I’d have to get rid of that before mater saw for sure. Kassandra couldn’t get up, but she swirled back onto her back and looked me in the eye, thanking me. She looked tired, upset.  
‘Are you alright…?’ I asked, sitting by her head, she grimaced and looked to the ceiling, shaking her head.  
‘I’m tired, Kyra.’ She replied.  
‘Feel free to sleep…’  
‘No, not that tired.’ She responded.  
I watched her lean her head upon my lap, and I lifted my hands for her to do so, she eased her eyes and sighed, hands at her torso. ‘I’m tired of what’s happening, I want out.’  
‘I’m sorry.’ Was all I could say.  
‘It’s tiring, every day it’s something new.’ She proceeded to explain. ‘A new call, a new fight, drachmae…’  
‘It wouldn’t be easy, is there anything you can do? Cant you escape?’ I asked. ‘I could help you, we could get you back home.’  
It was true, I knew a few people in the industry that could get her over the waters fast, these days there were planes that reached destinations in only a few minutes. She shook her head, I brought my hand to her head, examining her nose and checking if the bandage was sitting right. I felt comfortable being so close to her, after all, she still looked amazing even when bloodied and bruised.  
‘They’ll find me, they’ve chipped me somewhere.’ She pointed to her body, before laying her hand back against my arm. ‘Then they’ll follow me back home, find mater… and…’  
‘Don’t say it.’ I covered her mouth gently, and she breathed into my cupped hand. ‘Don’t even say it.’  
I couldn’t listen to someone talk about their mater dying, not while mine was, literally upstairs. I swallowed back tears, but they started welling up. Kassandra opened her eyes when I let out a hick. And in a split second she was up, even though it hurt, to examine me. ‘Hey…’  
I shook my head and held my mouth, looking away from her. But it was too late, I was already sobbing.  
It overcame me faster than any other time before.  
‘I’m sorry.’ I cried, covering my face. ‘There’s something I haven’t told you.’  
‘You don’t need to tell me everything.’ She reassured, sitting next to me. She grabbed my knee and squeezed it. ‘Unless you want to, then I will listen.’  
I was shocked to feel her arm around my shoulder, pulling me into an embrace. I leant my head into the hollow of her neck, sniffing.  
‘Tell me, lamb.’ She sweetly said. ‘I’ll always listen, always.’  
I breathed in, ready to unload years of torture onto a girl I was happy to say was becoming one of my favourites.  
Was she ready to hear Podarkes was my father?


	8. Chapter 8

Authors note: just a continuation of the last chapter, hence why it opens so casually. thanks for reading. and dont forget to leave a comment, i love your reviews ! 

I took a deep breath and felt Kassandra’s chin against my head, propped there. It was comforting, knowing I was about to open up about some serious things, I felt like it would be a little more easier than usual. I didn’t know why I was feeling this way, but she was strong, trusting and perfect, to me at least. I felt safe here, in her arms.   
‘The reason I don’t talk about my mater that much is because she’s sick.’ I mumbled. ‘Really sick.’   
‘Sick with what?’ she asked.   
I grimaced, leaning off her, as much as that sucked to do.   
‘When I was little…’ I began, holding my hands tight together. ‘My pater was a real drunk, someone who drank too much, came home and abused his daughter and wife.’   
Kassandra seemed to know where this was going, and nodded gently, her eyes set on the floor.   
‘He came home one night, and beat her, over, and over and over.’ I eased my eyes and with my right hand I smacked my left, demonstrating. ‘He wouldn’t stop. But when he finally did, mater was damaged, her head broken, in many parts.’   
‘Gods…’ Kassandra cussed, ‘I’m so sorry.’   
Oh but I wasn’t done, I felt like saying, instead I just continued talking.   
‘I remember the night clearly, and once he realised what he had done, the ambulance was there, bringing her into their big car, patching her up on the spot.’ I bit my bottom lip and shrugged. ‘The back part of her head was damaged, so they had to take the skin off, replace it with a prosthetic skin, filled with bio fluid. Every morning, I go into her room where she sleeps and change the bio fluid, because if I don’t she gets really sick left on the old stuff.’   
Kassandra nodded along, listening carefully.   
‘My pater left after that, never returned, doesn’t pay us, doesn’t care about us, just cares about drachmae and his work…’ I paused, sighed and turned to her. ‘You’d know him well.’   
She looked confused, one and two blinks left me knowing she needed to hear it from my mouth. I crossed my arms and blew a strand of hair from my face, grimacing again. ‘Podarkes.’   
There was an eerie silence in the garage, until Kassandra let out a little squeak and shook her head, ‘No…’  
‘Yes.’ I simply responded, looking her in the eye. ‘Podarkes is my father, the big honcho, the man who makes all the money but doesn’t share it with his family, doesn’t even care about his wife who’s surviving up there by a thread.’   
I pointed upwards and angrily slammed my hand down, clasping them together and squeezing. ‘That malaka has made my life a living hell, I see him everywhere, billboards, fliers, television, that man is disgusting.’   
‘And he’s my boss.’ Kassandra sighed, leaning forward to catch her breath. ‘I am so sorry, Kyra.’   
I looked at her, and she seemed gobsmacked, eyes a little wide, set on my wall. I reached to touch her shoulder, rubbing gently. ‘I had to be honest, does my story make more sense now?’   
She glanced to me, and nodded once. ‘Yes, it does.’   
We sat in silence again, Kassandra rubbed her forehead with her prosthetic fingers, if I listened carefully I could hear the whirls of mechanics inside, but only if I put my ear to it.   
‘So, is there anything I can do for your mother?’ she asked sweetly, I blushed when she reached forward and brushed the lock of hair that was irritating me behind my ear. ‘Anything?’   
I shook my head and smiled gently, itching the side of my nose. ‘I brought the doctor over this morning because she’s been getting sicker, and he told me it was the bio fluid I was using, so I have to go for the more expensive stuff…’   
‘And that’s pretty pricy.’ Kassandra groaned, I did the same and leant against the arm rest of my couch, sniffling. ‘I’m not sure how I’m going to afford it.’   
It was true, bio fluid came in different stages, the best being premium, and that would go for about 50 drachmae a pouch. I could afford a few at the moment, but after that? Nothing. I was worried, very worried, and Kassandra could tell. She reached to hold me again, and I let her, no doubt about that. She hugged me tight, tighter than before and I felt her sigh into my ear, it left shivers running down my spine. ‘I’m really sorry, Kyra.’   
‘You don’t have to apologise.’ I replied, holding her back. ‘It’s not your fault.’   
‘I know, but I’m working for him.’   
‘Not like you want to.’   
‘That is true, but still, I see him sometimes, I could say something.’   
‘No.’ I leant back, our faces pretty close. ‘Don’t even say anything, please.’   
She grimaced and looked me in the eye, nodding once with an awkward swallow. ‘I won’t.’   
I realised how close we were and leant back, apologising, to which she laughed a little and told me not to worry about it. She flinched and touched her nose, and I smacked her hand a bit, ‘Don’t touch it, you’ll make it bleed again.’   
I felt like a mother telling her child off, but she listened and sighed, standing shakily. ‘Ouch, I’m sore.’   
‘You will be for a while.’ I said. ‘Do they usually do that?’   
She glanced down at me, and blinked. ‘Do what?’   
I fisted my hand, punching the air. ‘Hit you for winning?’   
She felt her stomach and groaned, sitting back down from the memory.  
‘Oh that guy.’ She said, grumbling. ‘He’s your fathers new man, always does what Podarkes says, and I guess he wasn’t happy with how I was acting in the rink. So, I get punished.’   
‘That’s fucked up.’ I swore. ‘That malaka will pay for all the damage they’ve done to you.’   
She looked shocked by my outburst and chuckled, patting me on the back tightly. ‘Wow, Kyra.’   
‘What!’ I pouted. ‘I’m serious, I hate him with all my heart…’   
She looked sympathetic, her hand still on my back, rubbing softly. ‘I can tell, after what he did to your mater, I do too.’  
‘You didn’t hate him before?’   
‘Oh I did, but I cant make that obvious, or I’m in more trouble.’   
Great. She had to pretend to like the man who ruined me and my mater’s life. That was shitty. I rose up and pointed at Kassandra, a confidence boost riding the waves.   
‘I know what we need to do.’ I said, clicking my finger. ‘We fight back, it’s that simple!’   
She looked confused, and awkwardly laughed back. ‘Uh.’   
I was determined.   
‘You start fighting back, beat them when they beat you!’ I cried. ‘You don’t deserve this pain, this anguish. If you just start fighting back, they’ll realise they’ve screwed up, and you’re not taking any of their shit anymore.’   
‘If I fight back, they’ll surely kill me.’ Kassandra shut me down with one statement. ‘Kyra.’   
I grouched and paused, tensing my fists. ‘We cant just do, nothing.’   
‘We have to.’ She responded.   
‘No!’   
‘Yes.’   
‘But Kassandra-‘   
‘Kyra!’ she cried, rising up painfully.   
I was taken back by her stern yell, and flinched when she took my shoulders with her hands, tightening her grip. I looked up into her brown eyes, and she smiled weakly, shaking her head. ‘There’s nothing I can do, nothing we can do. They’re too powerful, there’s more than meets the eye with Podarkes and Caesar.’   
‘Like what?’ I asked.   
Kassandra chewed her bottom lip and went to answer, but her knees buckled and she fell forward, I caught her and gasped, holding her up with all my strength. ‘Oh shit!’   
She cussed back, shaking in my grasp. ‘I-I’m sorry, I’m so tired.’   
I felt horrible then, we were having a chat after she’d just been beaten to a pulp. It was selfish of me for sure. I sat her back down, and she thanked me quietly, touching her cranium. ‘I think I’m going to pass out.’   
I crouched, holding her head with her, and she mewed into my touch. I felt horrible leaving her down here alone when she was so vulnerable, so I made a decision, a risky one, but something that my stomach told me to do, and my heart.   
‘Come upstairs.’ I mumbled, ‘You can sleep in a real bed tonight.’   
She glanced at me, but I tried my hardest not to make eye contact, not with something like this. Hey, I was just trying to be nice, nothing weird about it. I was reassuring myself as I pulled her up, grabbing her arm and hooking it over my shoulders. This felt like dejavu for sure.   
Getting Kassandra inside was easy, moving past my maters door without her knowing there were four pairs of feet was tougher. I heard her call my name, and I swallowed, leant the taller girl against my wall and opened the door, looking inside. Mater was up watching her soaps, and she blinked confusingly, knowing very well there was someone outside.   
‘Is Roxana over?’ she asked innocently.   
Perfect!  
‘Uh!’ I stammered. ‘Y-yep! She watched the fig-‘   
I paused, collected myself and laughed nervously, mater looked at me with concern written all over her face.   
‘We went out for dinner, how are you feeling?’ I changed the subject pretty fast. ‘Are you okay?’   
‘It still hurts, but I think once I fall asleep I’ll be alright.’ She replied. ‘You off to bed?’   
I nodded, waved my hand and smiled. ‘Yes, you call me if anything happens, alright? I’ll leave my door open.’   
She agreed with me and let me go, thankfully.   
Getting Kassandra up the stairs wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, she leant into me but I held her as tight as I could, I didn’t want her falling down. We reached my room, and she chuckled; examining it. ‘Cute.’   
I sat her upon my bed, and she laid back, groaning loudly. ‘Ugh, it hurts so much!’   
‘I know, I know.’ I reassured her everything was going to be okay, as I rummaged through my closet to find something that would fit her, all I had were shorts though.   
‘I haven’t got anything you can really wear but-‘  
I turned to face her, but she was already taking off her shorts, leaving her in her underwear. I blushed, turned away and blew warm air into my hands, good gods, her legs! Well, leg! Even the prosthetic one was slim and muscle toned, to go with her other, she must have had a good wage to get that. I wanted to ask her just exactly where she got her arm and leg from, even how she came to have such things, but I think enough questions were asked tonight, and sleep was on both our minds. I popped the shorts back in my closet and closed it, knowing quite well she was fine the way she was. I couldn’t blame her, I usually slept half naked too, but tonight I’d be fully dressed, it was cold anyway. I helped her into bed, and she thanked me, half asleep already. I felt her head, making sure there was no more bleeding going on, but she was all soaked up, dry.   
I got into my side of the bed, thankfully it was a queen double, so there was amples amount of space for the both of us. She mumbled something to herself, pulled the covers down to her stomach and lifted her prosthetic arm, I watched her on the corner of my eye, examine every finger on her hand, she was exhausted, but boy was she dreamy.   
‘Goodnight, Kassandra.’ I mumbled, laying down, facing my bedside table. I didn’t really like having my back to her, but this was usually how I slept. I was so tired from today, and the fight just drained everything from me. I was glad she and I were getting closer, what one week could do, how amazing. She replied, a croaky voice that sent shivers down my abdomen, what a husky tone. I felt awkward with someone else in my bed, Roxana usually stayed over and it wasn’t an issue, but clearly Kassandra was into women as well, with Daphnae her ex and all. Ugh, just thinking about that made me feel sick, how unfortunate. I wonder how she really felt, and if I could talk to her about it one day, about their relationship, before the drama happened.   
I went to turn, to tell her how sorry I was about it, but she was already so close to me, and to my surprise her arm slung around my waist. I widened my eyes as she strongly pulled me into an embrace, fast asleep? Or half asleep, whatever it was it made me blush immensely. She sniffled and buried her nose into the crook of my neck, whisking my hair out of the way too. My heart was beating so fucking fast I couldn’t keep up. I hadn’t been so close to her before, not like this. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel, well, right?   
I was frozen, though she moved a little, and in a moment she realised what she was doing and leant a little back. ‘I-I’m sorry, I’m so used to-‘  
‘It’s okay.’ I simply said, my voice high. ‘Don’t stress.’   
‘So, can I?’ she asked.   
‘Mmhm!’ I squeaked, awkward.   
She was out like a light after my answer, no snoring; just heavy breaths along my ear. I got a little more comfortable, nestling myself into her grip, and she welcomed me, tightening her grip. Whatever was happening right now, I was so fine with it.   
I think I slept a little better last night, knowing I was safe from Cicero and Urion, I was with Kassandra, and that was all that mattered to me. Neo Mykonos was quiet, quieter than its ever been before, and the rain splattered along my window, calming me with every drop.


	9. Chapter 9

Authors note: a very quick chapter, I had a very busy weekend. Hope you enjoy. 

‘Love, are you listening to me?’   
I wasn’t. I stood next to Kassandra, who had her arm around my shoulders. I was tired, my eyes hazy, my heart beating very slow. Everything in that moment had confused me, upset me, and more importantly left me feeling like the only person I wished would live forever was going to disappear.   
But how did I get here? In this big hospital, with patients groaning all around me?   
Because I had a dream earlier that night.   
I was sitting at the dinner table, young, maybe fifteen. On my right side sat mater, she looked healthy fresh and well dressed, her head wasn’t damaged, no bio fluid evident, just her brown locks of hair. But to my left was pater, his big burly body taking up most of his seat. But something was odd about that moment, I wasn’t angry, I was holding both my parents hands, smiling, happy that I was with them.   
That’s how I knew it was a bad dream.   
Pater rose from his seat and leant in to hug me, his cologne fresh, his smile greedy. Whatever moment this was, it was unwanted, I hated him right? I didn’t like hugs from him, right? What was going on. He squeezed me, kissed me on the forehead and told me how much he loved me, and by that time I knew I had to wake up. When he leant back, his smile changed, to something sinister, darker. His body morphed into a big black shadow, and he loomed over mater like a monster. She looked up, a big smile on her face, happy to see her husband become something different.   
I woke up, wide eyes and all, and spooked Kassandra awake from beside me. She groaned, mumbled something and went to grab me again, but I could feel something was wrong, something was terribly terribly wrong. I took her hands off me and slid myself from my bed, my breath fastening, she took a moment to realise and woke up, asking me if I was alright.   
I was alright, but was mater?   
‘I have to go check.’ I kept repeating, rushing out of my room.   
‘Kyra!’ Kassandra called a little, rising up after, I could hear the sheets move. ‘Wait!’   
I couldn’t turn and wait for her, something was awfully not right, and I knew my hunch was correct. I rushed into my maters room and noticed her sleeping soundly, but it was when I realised; she didn’t shuffle in her sleep when I stepped in loudly, and when I called her name she didn’t answer. I felt the tears hit instantly, my heart did that awful drop, and I sat by her torso.   
‘Mater!’ I called, shaking her body. ‘Wake up!’   
But she didn’t. I panicked and checked her signals, she was still alive; thank the gods, but she wasn’t waking up!   
‘Mater!’ I sobbed, the tears didn’t stop there. I panicked, grabbed her shoulders and shook, violently. ‘Mater!’   
I swallowed, she didn’t budge. I rose up, sniffing loudly and holding the sides of my head, pacing, not sure what to do, I was in a state.   
‘Kassandra!’ I cried, I didn’t notice the scream that left my mouth. How was this happening? After a bad dream coincidently she’s gone.   
Kassandra came stumbling in, holding the doorframe with wide eyes. She’d found an old pair of track pants and a singlet from my room, obviously she was expecting my mater to meet her. ‘What? What is it?!’   
I pointed to my mother and sobbed, not sure what to say. But something was leaving my mouth, a mumble of sorts, a high pitched whine.   
Kassandra rushed to my side and held my shoulders, trying to figure out what I was saying, but she quickly turned to mater and checked her.   
Everything after that was a blur.   
Mater wasn’t waking up.   
Kassandra was doing everything she could to make her open her eyes, but nothing was happening.   
The ambulance came.   
I was shoved in the back with her, and Kassandra joined too. But all I could remember in that twenty minute ride was sobbing, trying to wake her up, listening to her heart beat. At one point I could feel Kassandra’s hands on my waist, she pulled me back, shushed me, told me everything was going to be fine, but I fought her and pushed her away, not meaning to be rude, but my priorities were one thing, and that was my mother.   
I didn’t want to lose her.  
-

‘Love, are you listening to me?’   
I swallowed and opened my eyes, glancing into the eyes of a nurse. She was a robot, I could tell by the lines around her facial features.   
They were designed to have human emotions, there was a huge rally years ago about giving them equal rights, and it worked, surprisingly. I was all for them being their own person, but older models like this blonde haired woman were used in retail, hospitals and fast food retailers. Id seen the same model 100 times in my day to day life here in Mykonos.   
I blinked, breathed in and realised where I was. From beside me, Kassandra stood, still dressed the way she was when she got out of bed, where once we were holding one another.   
‘I need your ID, to verify that you are a citizen of Neo Mykonos.’ The woman robot spoke, nodding her head once my way. ‘Please.’   
I was hesitant to do such a thing, but I rustled through my jacket to grab my wallet, where most my cards were electronic anyway. I leant closer and mumbled my name to her, and her servers lit up. She blinked, typed away and realised who I was, or well, who was my father.   
‘Oh my.’ She spoke, turning to her robot apprentice. ‘Please orginise the best bed for our guests mother here.’   
I didn’t move, but they began scrambling to and from, talking into their voice communicators and notifying others who my father was. I wasn’t keen on public places, or private places, because my family origins would always be dug up and promoted like I was someone famous, someone of worth, someone wanted. I swallowed again, and followed the nurse down the hall, where hopefully my mother was being transported to another room, somewhere only celebrities could go. Finally being knocked to my senses helped me understand the situation, I wonder how long I’d been zoned out for. I turned to Kassandra, and she looked at me, concern written all over her face. I didn’t say anything to her, just reached for her hand and squeezed once. But she never let go, she held it until we touched the third floor. We were lead to a door, and as it slid open I saw my mother laying in a grand comfortable bed. She was set up with wires, bio fluid going straight into her system, her brain. The doctor was checking her vitals, and something clicked in me.   
‘Doctor!’ I cried, stepping in and holding his arm tight. ‘Is she going to be okay? What happened?’   
I was asking so many questions, that he raised his hand and told me to calm down as nicely as he could, but he seemed frustrated. He was a taller man, with greying hair and facial hair, he lifted my hand off him and set it to my side, smiling gently.   
‘You must be the daughter, Kyra?’ he asked.   
‘Yes.’ I responded quietly, my chest tightening up. ‘I’m Kyra.’   
He nodded and looked at my mater, I looked too, fear sinking deep into my chest. ‘Is she…’  
‘She’s fallen into a coma.’ He mumbled, clearing his throat. ‘She must have overdosed on bio fluid, the brain took too much and she fell into a coma.’   
‘Gods…’ I groaned, I needed to sit back down, a nurse brought me a chair and I fell into it, covering my face with my hands. ‘What do we do?’   
‘We wait, feed her brain and vitals the best bio fluid we have to offer, and watch her progress.’   
I couldn’t believe this, my heart was wrenching just seeing her the way she was. This was my mater, in bed, not waking up, the woman who raised me. I felt the tears sting my eyelids again, and bit my bottom lip. Was this my fault? Was it all my fault that she was sick and had fallen into a coma? Was I doing something wrong?   
‘You have no reason to blame yourself, if that’s what you’re thinking.’ The Dr answered my baffling thought. ‘You were refilling her bio fluid, yes?’   
‘Yes.’ I simply answered. ‘I was.’   
‘It wasn’t your fault, this is just because the chemicals in her brain couldn’t handle the amount going directly into her stream, its not common, but it can happen.’   
Great, and it had to happen to my mater, a woman who had already gone through so much in her life.   
‘I assure you Kyra, daughter of Podarkes…’   
Ew. I hated hearing that.   
‘We will make sure she wakes up, you can count on us.’ The Dr finished.   
I nodded once, and asked if they could leave, so I could be alone with my mater. They listened to me very quickly, left and closed the door behind us, us, yes. I looked at Kassandra, and she blinked, turned to leave and stopped when I asked her to.   
‘Stay, Kassandra…’ I mumbled sadly. ‘Please.’   
I wanted to be alone, but not without her in my presence. As odd as that sounded coming from me, the thought of being completely isolated from any living awake being made me sick to the stomach. I stood slowly and stepped to my maters side, sitting by her breathing chest. I felt like I’d let her down,   
‘Maybe if I’d come home earlier, maybe if I’d checked up on her….’ I started, my words felt choked. ‘Maybe this mess wouldn’t have happened.’   
Kassandra put one hand on my shoulder, and I buried my face in my hands again. ‘Maybe she’d still be awake, Kassandra.’   
‘Kyra…’ she replied, softly. ‘You couldn’t have helped this.’   
She was right. There was no way I was expecting such a thing to happen. I wouldn’t have known about the chemical imbalance in maters brain, or what the bio fluid was also doing, I was told the fluid was to help her cope; not cause more issues. I sighed and sniffled loudly, breathing in harshly and containing my tears. I leant down to press a kiss to my maters forehead, keeping my lips there for a solid few seconds before breaking off and leaning back into Kassandra’s touch.   
This was unexpected, but it was happening. I had to take it with a grain of salt.   
‘I don’t know what to do.’ I admitted, my eyes a little wide, nodding once. ‘I really don’t know what to do.’   
‘What do you mean?’ Kassandra asked, curious.   
I looked up at her, then back to my mater, shrugging my shoulders. ‘I cant afford to keep her here.’   
It was true. I didn’t have the money Pater had, no way. And now that she was in hospital, he would definitely be notified, especially when she was put in a ward under his name. I was stressing out, and Kassandra could feel my shoulders tense.   
‘Hey…’ she began rubbing them, and I relaxed a little under her touch. ‘It’s going to be okay, they’ll keep her safe.’   
‘I know…it’s just.’ I paused and pursed my lips, sighing again. ‘I cant believe this is all happening.’   
‘I understand.’ Kassandra replied.   
Did she understand?   
No, of course she did. She had a traumatizing experience back in Sparta. And had to leave her parents too. She understood.   
I was grateful for her being here. I tried to open my mouth and tell her that, but nothing was coming out, so I simply leant my head against her hand, blinking tiredly.   
‘Are you alright?’ she asked, her thumb gently stroking my cheek. I blushed just the slightest, but my focus was on my mater, my eyes didn’t come off her sleeping state. ‘You worried me back there.’   
Any other moment I would be red faced and giddy knowing Kassandra of Sparta was worried about me, the week had come to an end but here we were in a hospital room together, how did this happen?   
Were the fates bringing us together for a reason? Some really fucked up reason that I just couldn’t understand? They must have been. Because I could feel myself getting closer and closer to the taller girl with every passing hour, plus she’d seen my emotions go up and down, from happy to now sobbing uncontrollably.   
And yet here she was.   
Still by my side.   
I sat, she stood, in silence we watched my mater breathe, we listened to the machines beep and the sound of fluid dripping, these sounds would haunt me until she awoke.


End file.
